The New Book Review

This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Critique of Two Books About the Champawat Tiger: Man-Eaters of Kumaon and No Beast So Fierce

Critique of Two Books About the Champawat Tiger: Man-Eaters of Kumaon and No Beast So Fierce

A question every human has in their mind is whether monsters are born or created.  If monsters are born, then no one is to blame for the death, destruction, and sorrow left in their wake.  But if a monster is made, then who is culpable for the misery inflicted on others?



One monster arguably made is the Champawat Tiger or rather the Champawat Tigress. She is attributed to no less than 436 deaths: 200 in Nepal and 236 in the Kumaon area of northern India. Her reign of terror is thought to have lasted almost a decade around eight or nine years before a brave hunter from a modest background laid her to rest.

Jim Corbett, born in India during the British occupation of India, was not part of the British elite, being of Irish ancestry and not being from a wealthy family. With a large family, six older half-siblings, and eight younger full siblings, he learned the ways of the Indian wilderness when need drove him to hunt to provide for his siblings due to his father’s untimely death.   



Critique of Two Books About the Champawat Tiger: Man-Eaters of Kumaon and No Beast So Fierce

Eventually, Jim Corbett’s reputation as a skilled hunter led the British Raj to call upon him to destroy the tiger. He traveled north to the Himalayan foothills where the tiger reigned over the terrified populace. Through cooperation with the local populace combined with an understanding of tiger behavior and acts of bravery by many people, the Champawat tiger was brought to bay and slain by Jim Corbett.



The Champawat Tiger was his first experience with a fearsome man-eating carnivore. Unlike all the others who had attempted to hunt this killing machine, he quickly ascertained the animal in question was an older tigress. Did the others simply not care or were they so lacking in an understanding of their quarry?



The story can be read in Jim Corbett’s own words in the book Man-Eaters of Kumaon. He has an engaging but simple storytelling style. He sidesteps some thorny issues of the day but it is clear that he was a humble man and one surprisingly open-minded towards Indians. Keep in mind that in this era it was perfectly acceptable to refer to anyone not white as savages and barbarians and open racism was expected from a “civilized” gentleman.  



Unusually for an adventure story, the author is honest about the discomforts offered by the landscape.  He talks about the dangers of malaria, risk of wounds turning septic, and uncomfortable nights in trees and getting rained on.  He also acknowledges the danger from India’s wildlife itself, which included king cobras, leopards, mugger crocodiles, and of course enraged tigers.

It’s hardly a surprise the story of the Champawat Tiger would continue to fascinate even over a hundred years from when it occurred.  There is a lone hero, Jim Corbett. A cast of stalwart sidekicks and supporters of the hero. Of course, no story would be complete without an anguished villain, the tigress herself.

Jim Corbett retains a simple but tactful style. He avoids falling for the temptation of sensationalism, avoiding gory detail about the tiger’s victims. He states enough to communicate the horror of what the victims were subjected to but in deference to the people who loved them, he avoids unnecessary details of the nightmare scenes that he witnessed.  

Of course, aspects of the story almost require suspension of disbelief. Some ask if one lone tiger could really eat 436 people. The story caught the attention of journalist Dane Huckelbridge who set out to research the story, which has reached legendary proportions.

In No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Animal in History, the author sets about verifying the facts of the legend. While he does not fully endorse the 436 alleged victims, he does note that while it may have been lower, it could have been a much higher number due to various social circumstances in British run India.

While the author is not a tiger expert he did travel to the region for his research and took pains to research not only tigers but also the socio-economic conditions in the region during the Chapawat’s reign of terror.  There are a few minor mistakes such as saying tigers flip porcupines onto their bellies when I am sure he meant backs, as porcupines typically walk (maybe waddle is more correct) with their bellies to the ground.  

Overall though it is well written and provides additional insight into the Champawat Tiger and British run India.  For many reasons, Jim Corbett kept his stories politically neutral although he does hint at the tensions between the native-born population and the British colonizing them. When one understands the hostility of the Kumaoni towards the British Raj and their representatives, it just shows how extraordinary Jim Corbett was to earn their trust and love.

An interesting aspect of No Beast So Fierce is the author asserts that the Champawat Tiger was a man-made ecological disaster. He draws attention to the deforestation and mass killing of animals that occurred at the time.  Sadly such things continue today.

While the author of No Beast So Fierce imagines the original poacher who set off the deadly chain of events to be a poacher who set off to kill a tiger, Jim Corbett does name the person a poacher but refrains from further judgment and speculation. Given the Champawat was injured by a gunshot to the mouth, there is no doubt it was a poacher for who else would set out in the jungle with a gun? But it could have just as easily been someone hunting for game birds or the deer who inhabited the jungle, and having been surprised by the tigress, shot her in terror and self-defense, and then took off as fast as he could.  

Both authors, however, agree upon the danger of leaving a wounded animal in the wild. Jim Corbett is more explicit on the irresponsible actions of a hunter who does not end an animal’s suffering.  

An accidental shooting would explain why no attempt was made to follow the tigress after wounding, but it just as easily could have been an irresponsible hunter. Either way, it had dire consequences for those who lived in the Himalayan foothills. One does have to wonder if this person did become one of her victims. Note: I assert the poacher was a male not just because both authors do but because hunting was a decidedly male task.

Dane Huckelbridge asserts the Champawat Tiger had her own name in Nepal, from the village of Rupal where she killed her Nepalese victims. He takes a very idealized view of Nepal and Indian society in the area, which must be taken with some reserve because every society has a dark side.  

While at times Dane Huckelbridge adopts a condescending tone towards those who lived during the events, the tone changes by the end of the book. Especially towards Jim Corbett who early in the book he insinuates is a fame-seeking social climber, but by the end, his tone has changed to neutral or even some admiration.  

If anything, reading the books written by Jim Corbett show him to be a truly humble and self-effacing man who downplayed his merits such as his extraordinary skill in tracking and his remarkable marksmanship. He was universally reputed to be humble, honest, and well-liked by all who knew him, although also a solitary man.  

I believe his pursuit of material comforts was driven by wanting to provide for his family and having suffered from deprivation as a child, he would naturally seek financial security. This is a normal human instinct. He had a special relationship with his sister Maggie, who I am guessing was close in age with him and one of his many siblings he was closest to. By special I am not insinuating anything other than his sister Maggie was also his best friend.  

Reading the books by Jim Corbett himself are pleasant reads despite the rather unpleasant subjects of his story.  Through the stories, you get to know the man himself. It’s easy to understand why the Indian Government after his death named a national park after him. Today the Jim Corbett National Park is a safe haven in north India for the Bengal tigers he so admired.

Critique of Two Books About the Champawat Tiger: Man-Eaters of Kumaon and No Beast So Fierce
I. Reid is an insatiably curious, overeducated homo sapiens-sapiens who much to the dismay of family and friends has never outgrown the why phase (or how phase if applied to how a thing works). As I. Reid is gainfully employed and considered a productive adult in polite society, I. Reid guest blogs on occasion guided by whatever is the curiosity of the nanosecond. Find her on the Wise Owl Site at https://www.thewiseowlfactory.com/guest-posts-by-i-reid/


More About This Blog 

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. 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 and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. 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.





Thursday, August 8, 2019

Midwest Book Review Gives Nod to “Iconoclastic” Book

Title: Damn the Novel
Author: Amr Muneer Dahab
Publisher: AuthorHouse
1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200, Bloomington, IN 47403-5161
www.authorhouse.com
ISBN: 9781546271307 
$23.99, Hard Cover, 160pp
Available on Amazon

Reviewed by Jim Cox originally for Midwest Book Review

In "Damn the Novel: when a Privileged Genre Prevails Over All Forms of Creative Writing" Dahab proposes that it is time to extend our reading arena outside the novel and narrative fiction.

As Dahab notes, life is profound and gorgeous; it deserves to be experienced beyond fantasy! So in "Damn the Novel" he asserts an overt condemnation of all forms of privilege granted to a literary genre over other writing genres.

Though "Damn the Novel" could be perceived as a vociferous cry against the novel per se, it is actually an objective view against the process of perpetuating the delusion that the novel specifically, and narrative fiction in general, should inevitably be the most dominating and influential literary trend.
GAmrcDahab,

"Damn the Novel" offers an exciting and challenging reading experience, through which the reader will be able to realize that it is time for literature to embrace a fresh literary atmosphere in which all genres are granted equality to get the same chance to flourish in total freedom without any literary sponsorship.

Critique: An iconoclastic, thoughtful and thought-provoking read from first page to last, "Damn the Novel: when a Privileged Genre Prevails Over All Forms of Creative Writing" is an extraordinary and inherently fascinating literary argument and one that will be of particular interest to writers and readers in general, as well as everyone and anyone who has ever wanted to write 'The Great American Novel' in particular. While very highly recommended for community, college, and university library Contemporary Literary Studies, as well as Writing/Publishing collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Damn the Novel" is also available in a paperback edition (9781546271321, $13.99) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $3.99).


MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG, AND ITS BENEFITS FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Jim Cox Offers "Mindful Reading": "Extraordinary...Insights"

The Art of Mindful Reading
Ella Berthoud
Leaping Hare Press
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401-1722
Publisher website: www.quartoknows.com
ISBN: 9781782407683
$14.99, Hard cover, 144pp

Reviewed by Jim Cox originally for Midwest Book Review

Jim Cox Offers "Mindful Reading": "Extraordinary...Insights"

SYNOPSIS: 
The healing power of reading has been renowned since Aristotle; focus, flow and enlightenment can all be discovered through this universal act.

"The Art of Mindful Reading: Embracing the Wisdom of Words" by bibliotherapist Ella Berthoud embraces the joy of absorbing words on a page, encouraging a state of mind as deeply therapeutic and vital to our wellbeing as breathing.

"The Art of Mindful Reading" poses such questions as: If reading is our daily nourishment how best should it be consumed? How should you read mindfully? And why will reading mindfully help you to read better?

"The Art of Mindful Reading" deftly explores how reading mindfully can shape the person you are, give you your moral backbone, and teaches empathy with others. Through meditative exercises, engaging anecdote, and expert insight, "The Art of Mindful Reading" reveals the enriching potential of reading for mindfulness.

CRITIQUE: 
 As thoughtful and thought-provoking as it is inspired and inspiring, "The Art of Mindful Reading: Embracing the Wisdom of Words" is an extraordinary compilation of insights into the impact literacy has upon character, how what we read shapes who we are. It also subtle underscores the tragedy of functional illiteracy -- that is, the cultural impoverishment of those who can read but choose not to. While unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library collections, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "The Art of Mindful Reading: Embracing the Wisdom of Words" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $10.36).

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Ella Berthoud is a bibliotherapist at the international School of Life, prescribing literary cures to readers everywhere. She is the co-author of "The Novel Cure" and "The Story Cure", and read English literature at Cambridge University. Residing in West Sussex, England, Ella regularly gives talks on reading ailments and mindful reading at bookstores and other venues. 

MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

How to Get Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Alex Phuong Reviews Carol Smallwood's Poetry


Title: Patterns
Subtitle: Moments in Time
Author: Carol Smallwood,. Cincinnati, Ohio
Genre: Poetry, 
2019, 103 pp., 
$19. 
Purchase on Amazon

Review by Alex Phuong originally for BookSmugglersDen



One of the most interesting features of life is patterns that exist all around the world.  Clever designs prepend artistic merit to an otherwise mundane life.  After all, life without vivacity is oftentimes monotonous.  Patterns help people connect with one another because of the universal and fundamental fact that everything is interconnected because of the diversity that defines the world and its inhabitants.  Therefore, Carol Smallwood's newest poetry collection, entitled, Patterns: Moments in Time, once again explores the sublime nature of reality that reveals how life can be truly extraordinary.

Smallwood organizes her poetic masterpieces with a prologue, three sections, and an epilogue that create a gestalt-like collection that proves that the entirety of her collection as a whole greater than the sum of its parts.  Within the prologue, Smallwood addresses how “Driving Into Town” offers the idea of embarking on the mystical journey known as life itself.  Life has been compared to traveling on a road that can be a bumpy ride metaphorically, but Smallwood suggests that reality can be like a cabaret, or as she puts it, “a cocktail party” (4).  The classiness of an elegant party compares life to an experience that must be felt to enjoy what life can offer any given person.  Therefore, Carol Smallwood immediately establishes her assertion that “moments in time” must be enjoyed since time is limited.

Smallwood reiterates the importance of time by acknowledging the cyclical nature of life.  Her poem entitled, “A Dawn Trio” reveals how life operates like clockwork.  Specifically, she capitalizes the phrases, “Dawn Comes” (1), “My Hands” (5), and “Every Morning” (17). The structure of this poem is similar to the doctrine of the Trinity because devout Christian believers believe that the purpose of life is serving with humility.  Even though the “Dawn Comes” (1) daily, human hands must perform good work to add significance to an otherwise bland existence.  The phrase “Every Morning” (17) emphasizes the fact that people who enjoy life will be able to “recall home” (24) since Earth itself is the only home.  This “Dawn Trio” figuratively creates the daily circadian lifestyle that defines human existence and emphasizes how there is beauty in every day even though all people encounter bad days.  Therefore, this powerful poem with a structured pattern suggests that life itself is beautiful no matter how bad life may seem.

The second part of this poetry collection, entitled, “In the Observing” demonstrates how people could observe patterns in both the natural world and their daily lives by simply looking around with their eyes.  Patterns do exist in the world, and sometimes these patterns exist just because they exist.  Specifically, the poem entitled “Carl Sagan Called Our Planet” openly exhibits one of the most puzzling questions about existence, which is, “what makes water blue?” (4). Smallwood then attempts to answer that question by reminding readers that young children might also ask, “why the sky's blue?” (6). This reply suggests that some patterns in the world might exist so that there is no need for an explanation.  Maybe patterns exist just because they do, and all of the patterns in the world help create decorative elegance within an otherwise harsh and painful existence.  Life can definitely be challenging, but big questions oftentimes have no easy answers, and should instead just be accepted for what it is (just like knowing life and loving life for what it is).

Alex Phuong Reviews Carol Smallwood's PoetryThe third section and epilogue of Patterns: Moments in Time emphasize the eponymous phrase through symbolic poetry.  The third part is called, “Connections” and it contains poems that beautifully explore how patterns reveal the aestheticism within everything in the world and in life.  Specifically, the poem “Select Moments” is actually similar to another poetry collection by Carol Smallwood, which is called A Matter of Selection.  This beautiful poem contains the stanza "Surely if I stood tall as possible / Long enough, tried hard enough / there'd come some hints, some pattern? (18-20). The rhetorical question that concludes this poem directly relates to the importance of demonstrating sincere effort to live a meaningful life.  Life itself is a matter of choices, as explored in A Matter of Selection, but Carol Smallwood uses this stanza to reveal how people would sometimes pursue their dreams while also confronting the anxiety associated with what the future holds.  Sometimes choices lead to unintentional consequences, but that just shows how life is a process.  People might make poor choices sometimes, but Smallwood suggests that there is no need to fret over making mistakes because of patterns that result from cause and effect.  Therefore, causes and effects are essentially patterns that form from human behavior.  Such an insightful examination of the way people act within moments in time ultimately create the patterns that exist all around them as they make choices based on their own matters of selection.

Carol Smallwood is truly a profound poet.  Her previous poetry collections delve deep into what it means to be alive, which is what most writers hope to achieve when they create their own original works of written art.  Smallwood's poetry offers insight into the connections that people in have along with their relationships with the world around them, and ultimately the entire universe itself.  In Hubble's Shadow explores how people are compared to the unfathomable universe, and A Matter of Selection reveals how choices, both good and bad, really do determine the future.  Once again, Carol Smallwood examines how human behavior establish patterns based on decisions they make within moments in time.  Therefore, she has achieved fame as one of the most gifted and prolific authors in contemporary writing.  Through simplicity and profundity, Smallwood's poetry examines what it means to be alive with audacity.  Life itself is short anyways, so why not treasure moments in time?  Carol Smallwood once again writes poetry that will hopefully inspire readers to re-examine what truly is beautiful in the world.



MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Author and Reviewer Alert! Free Review Resource Plus Review Hint #Three


Authors, Get Reviews for Your Books - Free and Ethical 

and Hint # Three for Getting Them

This is a regular service offered by Lois W. Stern to help authors find interested reviewers for their books and help reviewers find fascinating, published works to review. Watch for more of them along with hints for getting reviews. Scroll down to see both new book offerings and Lois's third How-To-Get-Great-Reviews Hint! 
______________________________________________________________

You can get any of the books listed below FREE in exchange for an honest Amazon posted review.
Author and Reviewer Alert! Free Review Resource Plus Review Hint #3

TITLEThe Opium Lord's Daughter
NUMBER OF PAGES: 287
DESCRIPTION: The Opium Lord’s Daughter features true events and characters within a world populated by rogue drug traders, imperialist government officials, religious zealots, and scrappy survivors. It’s a coming-of-age story filled with romance, adventure, and tragedy; an expedition through the destruction of a culture, underscoring the hold and havoc drug empires perpetually exert.  
AUTHOR'S NAME: Robert Wang
FORMAT: E-book available on all major retailers
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: 18+ 
SHORTENED LINK: https://tinyurl.com/the-opium-lords-daughter


_______________

TITLE: AVENGING ANGEL:  Love and Death in Old Brooklyn
NUMBER OF PAGES: 394
DESCRIPTION: An African-American woman, struggling to overcome the trauma of a racially motivated childhood rape, finds even deadly revenge insufficient. She stalks the streets of the dark city, dangling her spider's web before potential predators. Eventually, while searching for salvation as a fearless champion of endangered women, she tests her capacity to risk being loved. a tale of revenge, survival and redemption, wrapped around an unlikely and stormy dark romance, and set within the context of some unfortunately timeless issues: Violence Against Women, and Racism.
AUTHOR'S NAME: Charles S. Isaacs 
E-MAIL: DrCSIsaacs@aol.com
FORMAT: any digital format
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: Adults
SHORTENED LINK: Amazon
_______________

TITLE: Sensitive
SUBTITLE: My Journey through a Toxic World
NUMBER OF PAGES: 293
DESCRIPTION: Sensitive is memoir wrapped around timely and important manifesto. Through Sekmet’s lifelong struggles with chemical sensitivities, she learned crucial truths about the underlying toxicity of many of the products that surround us. This straight-shooting and bold memoir tells how she triumphed over mysterious chronic health struggles and family trauma with determination and humor.
AUTHOR: Pookie Sekmet
EMAIL: pookiesekmet@gmail.com
FORMAT: ARC (Advanced review copies)
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: General Audience/Memoir

AMAZON URL: 

_______________

TITLE: Justice Gone
NUMBER OF PAGES: 336 (314 excluding front and back matter)
DESCRIPTION: A homeless vet is beaten to death by police. Protests erupt. 3 cops are gunned down. A multi-state manhunt. And the trial of the decade. A new kind of legal thriller.
AUTHOR'S NAME: N. Lombardi Jr
E-MAIL: nlomb269@gmail.com
FORMAT: PDF, e-book (including Kindle), 20 paper back copies
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: teens and adults
AMAZON URL: tiny.cc/14kz7y
_______________

TITLE: Tales2Inspire ~ The Pearl Collection
# OF PAGES: 124
DESCRIPTION: True stories of fifteen Awesome Kids, each making an incredible impact to better our world.
AUTHOR'S NAME: Lois W. Stern
E-MAIL: tales2Inspire@optimum.net
FORMAT: PDF, e-book, 4 paperback copies
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: preteens, teens and adults
AMAZON URL: https://www.amazon.com/Tales2Inspire-Pearl-Collection-Awesome-ebook/dp/B07PK51NV5/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Tales2Inspire+Collection&qid=1554513523&s=books&sr=1-
_______________

TITLE: Super Spoons to the Rescue: A Math Measuring Story
NUMBER OF PAGES: 58 Pages
DESCRIPTION: This is a math story about spoon superheroes who help people measure ingredients for things like chocolate cakes. When their town is hit by a tornado, they help dispense the exact amount of medicines needed. They fly to the rescue as requested. This book also has worksheets and activity cards.
AUTHOR'S NAME: Carolyn Wilhelm
Illustrator: Oxana Cerra
FORMAT: 3 PDFs, 3 of PAPERBACK BOOKS  (people can have both)
AGE/INTEREST LEVEL: Primary Grades 1-3 (Ages 6-9)
SHORTENED LINK: https://tinyurl.com/y495v5nc 
___________________________________________________________


MORE ABOUT THE GUEST BLOGGER AND HER TALES2INSPIRE PROJECT

To get your copy of any of the above titles for review:

Email the author directly using their address above.
  1. Commit to writing a review within 30 days.
  2. Post your review on Amazon.
  3. Give the author permission to post it on this New Book Review blog, credited to you with a link to your website or social network, of course.
_____________________________________________________________

TO SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW REQUEST, KINDLY USE THE FOLLOWING FORMAT:

TITLE:
NUMBER OF PAGES:
DESCRIPTION: (Please keep pitch to 50 words or less.)
AUTHOR'S NAME:
E-MAIL:
FORMAT:(PDF, E-BOOK, # of PAPERBACK BOOKS, # of HARDCOVER BOOKS)
AGE/NTEREST LEVEL:
AMAZON URL: (Kindly send shortened link using Tiny URL or other.)
Send review requests to Lois at: tales2inspire@optimum.net

Put Blogspot Review Request IN THE SUBJECT LINE.

___________________________________________________________

LOIS'S HINT #3 FOR GETTING REVIEWS:

"Don’t overlook staff members at bookstores.  A large percentage (of them) are avid readers an many are fellow writers. Some also do reviews  for the bookstore’s newsletter."
Page 108 of Carolyn Howard-Johnson's How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally 

______________________________________________________________
   
  MORE ABOUT THE GUEST BLOGGER AND HER TALES2INSPIRE PROJECT

MORE ABOUT THE GUEST BLOGGER AND HER TALES2INSPIRE PROJECT

Lois W. Stern's Tales2Inspire was a kernel of an idea that started in 2012 and has grown to proportions even she didn’t dare to envision. Her innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea. But it was the confused state of traditional publishing that propelled her forward. Tales2Inspire delivers exactly what it promises as both an ‘Authors Helping Authors’ project and a contest. Winners get their stories published in print, as e-books, and some even in video formats with their names, headshot photos, and mini-autobiographies. Then she spreads the word about the winners and their stories on her blogs, social media and monthly newsletter. FREE to enter, this is a great competition for talented newbies and seasoned authors alike. Learn more about her and her projects here:

Tales2Inspire website: http://www.tales2inspire.com
LinkedIn profile: http://tinyurl.com/odtw2wt

Get a FREE Tales2Inspire Sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gift
Tales2Inspire trailer: https://youtu.be/FuDgXkYMHvo
Blog: http:://www.tales2inspire/blog
                                                    ___________________


MORE ABOUT THE BLOGGER, THIS BLOG AND ITS BENEFIT FOR WRITERS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everything from Amazon Vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog 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.



Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Friday, July 19, 2019

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca Discussion Questions

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. 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 and love. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page and in a tab at the top of this blog's home page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites so it may be used a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. 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.

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca by Tahir Shah

This book elicited quite strong reactions from our Global Reads for Grown-ups Facebook book group readers, particularly on the question of whether Shah relied on cultural stereotypes and caricatures in his portrayal of Morocco.
The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca Discussion Questions

  • ASIN: B015QNQ6R6
  • Hardcover: 368 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam Books
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385608071
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385608077

1) What did you think of the book? Would you recommend it?

2) On p. 19 of my edition, Tahir Shah writes "In the West we are driven by an extreme form of guilt - if you are not seen to be working like a dog, you're perceived as being slothful. It was very clear that things in Morocco were quite different...I found people rushed about only when they needed to, and not because they knew others were watching them."
Do you agree that people in the West feel guilty for relaxing? (Or that they don't feel this guilt elsewhere?)

3) Here is a quick overview of Edward Said's concept of Orientalism and how it still shapes Western views of the East today. Do you think The Caliph's House played into these stereotypes? Did he do anything to dispel them?



4) The book begins with Tahir Shah signing the papers on his new house when they are interrupted by suicide attacks in Casablanca. What effect does it have starting the book with this effect? Why did he choose to do this?

5) [Reader question] What did you think about the family relationships in the book?

6) Did you have a favorite character?

7) Overall, would you say The Caliph's House paints a flattering portrait of Morocco? Or of the expats living there? Would you want to move to Morocco based solely on reading this book? Why or why not?

8) Have you ever lived abroad? If so, how did your experience compare with the one portrayed in the book?

9) Thinking on books about where you are from (or where you live now) was there one that really got it wrong? What book really got it right? What book do you recommend about where you are from (or where you live)?

Thank you for reading! This post was written by: 
Leanna is a homeschooler with three sweet, funny, rambunctious children.  She draws inspiration from the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith and tries to raise her Monkeys in a fun, spiritual, loving environment.  She and her husband, who is from Costa Rica, are raising their children to be bilingual and bicultural but more importantly to be “world citizens.”  All Done Monkey is dedicated to sharing this journey with you!
Leanna is the founder of Multicultural Kid Blogs.
Featured website on Bahá’í Mom Blogs
Alldonemonkey.com

The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca Discussion Questions