Grand Finale Blitz for The Valley of Decision

6/30/2014

A themed book tour through Prism Book Tours.

It's the Grand Finale for
The Valley of Decision
by Shannon McDermott

“A solid fantasy that wears its spirituality lightly yet effectively.”

~Kirkus Reviews (read the entire review here)

We hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about the characters and the story-book world of The Valley of Decision. Did you miss any of the stops? You can check them out below:

Colorimetry - The Mountains, the Moors, and the Hills

If you ever travel north beyond the Black Mountains, into the kingdom of Belenus, you will find yourself in a vast and varied land, a country of laws unwritten, unspoken, and scrupulously obeyed...

Katie's Clean Book Collection - The Trow

Deep in the mountain Anuin, the smithies of the Trow house mighty fires. Those crimson flames imbue the stony heart of the mountain with heat, fill it with a pulsing red glow like living rubies.

Bookworm Lisa - The Fays

Belenus, the master of the North, does not often leave his glittering palace or his green hills. You are not likely, even if you roam his kingdom, to ever see him...

Distractions of Grandeur - Review

"The best story element involved the Fay, an elvish race who for once felt truly alien. She went beyond current stereotypes and really brought out the danger of these beings, even those one might count as allies. There were echoes of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, elevating the stakes and the narrative itself."

Finding the True Fairy Tale - Interview

Which of the characters from The Valley of Decision was your favorite to write?
The main character, Keiran the Captain of the Hosts. To even attempt what he did, a person would have to be either very desperate or very confident of his own abilities. Keiran is the second, and he has an extreme self-assurance, and sometimes conceit, that I enjoyed using. He’s also bold, another fun characteristic for a writer to work with. And because he is a very able man, and has reason to be confident, his occasional conceit adds texture to his character and makes him more interesting.

I Love to Read and Review Books :) - Ten Fun Things to Know About Shannon

(1) I was born in California but grew up on the East Coast.
(2) I have seven little sisters.
(3) I like sweet potatoes baked or boiled, with butter or with sugar, made into fries and made into pies. But I cannot stand them canned.

Wishful Endings - Dokrait and the Black Mountains

The Black Mountains are high and treacherous – so many sheer, soaring cliffs, so many monstrous boulders dangerously perched. Wolves teem on the mountains, spilling into the lowlands when the winters are long. Bears and the great cats prowl those hazardous slopes, too.

Kelly P's Blog - Interview

Have you always wanted to be a writer?
Pretty much. I was eight when I first decided (and declared) my ambition to write a book. Of course, it was years later when this desire to write took on the adult dimension of “This is what I want to do with my life, this is how I want to earn my living”.

Mythical Books - The Dochraitay

The Dochraitay possess the unhappy distinction of being the foremost servants of Belenus. They fight his campaigns against Alamir and the Islemen, they grow the crops and hunt the animals eaten by the Fays, they give up their children for the mines and the army and the palace of Muireach.

Brooke Blogs - Interview

2) What is your favorite part of the writing process?
When I take my scenes, written longhand in my notebook, and transcribe them into the computer, revising and polishing as I go. It’s easier than the initial writing, and I finish with a feeling of satisfaction. The scene is done! Until my editor gets her hands on it, anyway.

Coffee Books & Art - Interview

How did you come up with the title? Names?
The title comes from a Bible verse found in the Book of Joel: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!” For the names, I established this pattern: of Gaelic origin, unusual enough that the names would not be common in our own world, but not too unusual. I avoided names like Ruairidh because it just looks too foreign. Who would care to guess how to pronounce it? So I ended with names like Torradan and Artek and Belenus – different, but easy enough.

Mel's Shelves - Review

"There are lots of moving parts that came together in the end for a satisfying conclusion. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this, and I look forward to reading more from this author!"

The Wonderings of One Person - The Alamiri

Long ago, the Alamiri tribes came from the distant sunrise lands – climbing nameless mountains, fording forgotten rivers. Their wanderings ended here, among the forests south of the Black Mountains.

The Written Adventure - Interview

3) What gave you the idea for The Valley of Decision?
The Lord of the Rings, much as it pains me to admit it. In those books, Sauron had legions of human slaves whose only purpose in the story was to fight the good guys (and get beaten). It’s not that Tolkien was heartless in his use of these characters – remember Sam witnessing one of them being killed and sadly wondering what his name was and if he even wanted to fight – but I came to think how good it would have been if Sauron’s slaves had staged a revolt. Why should all the heroes come from the free nations fighting Sauron? Why not from the enslaved nations oppressed by him?

Mommynificent - Review

"The characters were definitely my favorite part of the book. I really enjoyed coming to understand the complexities of the three main characters, who interestingly are all male. I also really enjoyed the unfolding mystery of who the Fay are and why they are a part of this world."

Deal Sharing Aunt - Interview

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
If there is one message in The Valley of Decision, it’s that we all have choices to make, and we can’t escape it. Not making the choice is itself a choice. My principal character, Keiran, faces the ultimate choice: Rebellion or obedience, God’s way or his? But all the characters have to choose, and their choices mean risk and sacrifice and (sometimes) reward – just as our choices do.

Platypire Reviews - Review

"Keiran, the Captain of the Hosts, was an interesting character. From the beginning of the book, I wasn't quite sure what direction the story was going to go in, and I didn't know what to think of him at first. As things were revealed and I got further in the story, I found myself rooting for him as a reader and enjoyed his character development."

Letters from Annie Douglass Lima - The Northmen

In the uttermost north, beyond even the kingdom of Belenus, icy mountain peaks look down on the Coldlands. The Coldlands are not on our maps, not even the borders. The Alamiri do not venture even to Belenus’ home, let alone past it. But rumors come to us – from foreigners, adventurers, and far-travelers, brave, reckless, wild men.

My Devotional Thoughts - The Hobgoblins

One more tale? All right, my love; just one.
Long ago, the great father Athair led the first Alamiri up into the Rhugarch Pass. They were men of his clan, relatives loyal and strong. When they scaled the mountain to the Rhugarch Gap, they stopped for the night.
The men settled down to their rest; the fire sank into embers; the watchman grew drowsy. And a soft, soft pattering murmured into the camp.

Christy's Cozy Corners - Interview

What do you hope people take away from your books?
I hope that whenever someone finishes one of my books, they feel like they’ve been on a journey and it has ended well. Every story is about a character’s struggle for something, and I hope my readers will be able to feel that in my stories and be encouraged.

The Bookish Fairy - This or That

Chocolaty or fruity candy?
Chocolaty. Hands-down, 100%, all the time.
Get out of the house or stay at home?
Stay at home.
Winter or summer?
Can I pick spring or fall? I’ll go with summer.

The Valley of Decision

by Shannon McDermott
Adult Fantasy
Paperback, 416 pages
May 31st 2014 by SALT Christian Press

Where the Black Mountains pierce the sky, they divide the south from the north, Alamir from the kingdom of Belenus. Belenus, the undying master of the north, commanded Keiran – the Captain of the Hosts – to conquer Alamir. But the Captain is deep in conspiracy, and he has his own plans.

The Valley of Decision is a fantasy novel, a saga of slavery, freedom, and choices.

Amazon - SALT Christian Press

Shannon McDermott is a Christian author of speculative fiction, as well as a humorous detective series called "The Adventures of Christian Holmes". She has written both fantasy and science fiction, and has yet to decide on which one to like better.

She was born to Wisconsin, expatriates in California, grew up on the East Coast, and now lives in the Midwest. Her principal hobbies are politics, history, novels, and coffee.

Website - Blog - Goodreads - Facebook

Tour-Wide Giveaway

- Grand Prize: $25 Amazon gift card and ebooks of The Valley of Decision and The Sunrise Windows (open INT)
- 2 print copies of The Valley of Decision (US only)

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To post this Grand Finale and add your Social Media to the Rafflecopter, email us at PrismBookTours(at)gmail.com with "Valley of Decision" in the subject line.

A themed book tour through Prism Book Tours.

It's the Grand Finale for The Valley of Decision by Shannon McDermott

“A solid fantasy that wears its spirituality lightly yet effectively.” ~Kirkus Reviews (read the entire review here)

We hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about the characters and the story-book world of The Valley of Decision. Did you miss any of the stops? You can check them out below:

Colorimetry - The Mountains, the Moors, and the Hills If you ever travel north beyond the Black Mountains, into the kingdom of Belenus, you will find yourself in a vast and varied land, a country of laws unwritten, unspoken, and scrupulously obeyed... Katie's Clean Book Collection - The Trow Deep in the mountain Anuin, the smithies of the Trow house mighty fires. Those crimson flames imbue the stony heart of the mountain with heat, fill it with a pulsing red glow like living rubies. Bookworm Lisa - The Fays Belenus, the master of the North, does not often leave his glittering palace or his green hills. You are not likely, even if you roam his kingdom, to ever see him... Distractions of Grandeur - Review "The best story element involved the Fay, an elvish race who for once felt truly alien. She went beyond current stereotypes and really brought out the danger of these beings, even those one might count as allies. There were echoes of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, elevating the stakes and the narrative itself." Finding the True Fairy Tale - Interview Which of the characters from The Valley of Decision was your favorite to write? The main character, Keiran the Captain of the Hosts. To even attempt what he did, a person would have to be either very desperate or very confident of his own abilities. Keiran is the second, and he has an extreme self-assurance, and sometimes conceit, that I enjoyed using. He’s also bold, another fun characteristic for a writer to work with. And because he is a very able man, and has reason to be confident, his occasional conceit adds texture to his character and makes him more interesting. I Love to Read and Review Books :) - Ten Fun Things to Know About Shannon (1) I was born in California but grew up on the East Coast. (2) I have seven little sisters. (3) I like sweet potatoes baked or boiled, with butter or with sugar, made into fries and made into pies. But I cannot stand them canned.

Wishful Endings - Dokrait and the Black Mountains The Black Mountains are high and treacherous – so many sheer, soaring cliffs, so many monstrous boulders dangerously perched. Wolves teem on the mountains, spilling into the lowlands when the winters are long. Bears and the great cats prowl those hazardous slopes, too. Kelly P's Blog - Interview Have you always wanted to be a writer? Pretty much. I was eight when I first decided (and declared) my ambition to write a book. Of course, it was years later when this desire to write took on the adult dimension of “This is what I want to do with my life, this is how I want to earn my living”. Mythical Books - The Dochraitay The Dochraitay possess the unhappy distinction of being the foremost servants of Belenus. They fight his campaigns against Alamir and the Islemen, they grow the crops and hunt the animals eaten by the Fays, they give up their children for the mines and the army and the palace of Muireach. Brooke Blogs - Interview 2) What is your favorite part of the writing process? When I take my scenes, written longhand in my notebook, and transcribe them into the computer, revising and polishing as I go. It’s easier than the initial writing, and I finish with a feeling of satisfaction. The scene is done! Until my editor gets her hands on it, anyway. Coffee Books & Art - Interview How did you come up with the title? Names? The title comes from a Bible verse found in the Book of Joel: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!” For the names, I established this pattern: of Gaelic origin, unusual enough that the names would not be common in our own world, but not too unusual. I avoided names like Ruairidh because it just looks too foreign. Who would care to guess how to pronounce it? So I ended with names like Torradan and Artek and Belenus – different, but easy enough. Mel's Shelves - Review "There are lots of moving parts that came together in the end for a satisfying conclusion. I'm glad I had the opportunity to read this, and I look forward to reading more from this author!"

The Wonderings of One Person - The Alamiri Long ago, the Alamiri tribes came from the distant sunrise lands – climbing nameless mountains, fording forgotten rivers. Their wanderings ended here, among the forests south of the Black Mountains. The Written Adventure - Interview 3) What gave you the idea for The Valley of Decision? The Lord of the Rings, much as it pains me to admit it. In those books, Sauron had legions of human slaves whose only purpose in the story was to fight the good guys (and get beaten). It’s not that Tolkien was heartless in his use of these characters – remember Sam witnessing one of them being killed and sadly wondering what his name was and if he even wanted to fight – but I came to think how good it would have been if Sauron’s slaves had staged a revolt. Why should all the heroes come from the free nations fighting Sauron? Why not from the enslaved nations oppressed by him? Mommynificent - Review "The characters were definitely my favorite part of the book. I really enjoyed coming to understand the complexities of the three main characters, who interestingly are all male. I also really enjoyed the unfolding mystery of who the Fay are and why they are a part of this world." Deal Sharing Aunt - Interview Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp? If there is one message in The Valley of Decision, it’s that we all have choices to make, and we can’t escape it. Not making the choice is itself a choice. My principal character, Keiran, faces the ultimate choice: Rebellion or obedience, God’s way or his? But all the characters have to choose, and their choices mean risk and sacrifice and (sometimes) reward – just as our choices do. Platypire Reviews - Review "Keiran, the Captain of the Hosts, was an interesting character. From the beginning of the book, I wasn't quite sure what direction the story was going to go in, and I didn't know what to think of him at first. As things were revealed and I got further in the story, I found myself rooting for him as a reader and enjoyed his character development."

Letters from Annie Douglass Lima - The Northmen In the uttermost north, beyond even the kingdom of Belenus, icy mountain peaks look down on the Coldlands. The Coldlands are not on our maps, not even the borders. The Alamiri do not venture even to Belenus’ home, let alone past it. But rumors come to us – from foreigners, adventurers, and far-travelers, brave, reckless, wild men. My Devotional Thoughts - The Hobgoblins One more tale? All right, my love; just one. Long ago, the great father Athair led the first Alamiri up into the Rhugarch Pass. They were men of his clan, relatives loyal and strong. When they scaled the mountain to the Rhugarch Gap, they stopped for the night. The men settled down to their rest; the fire sank into embers; the watchman grew drowsy. And a soft, soft pattering murmured into the camp. Christy's Cozy Corners - Interview What do you hope people take away from your books? I hope that whenever someone finishes one of my books, they feel like they’ve been on a journey and it has ended well. Every story is about a character’s struggle for something, and I hope my readers will be able to feel that in my stories and be encouraged. The Bookish Fairy - This or That Chocolaty or fruity candy? Chocolaty. Hands-down, 100%, all the time. Get out of the house or stay at home? Stay at home. Winter or summer? Can I pick spring or fall? I’ll go with summer.

The Valley of Decision by Shannon McDermott Adult Fantasy Paperback, 416 pages May 31st 2014 by SALT Christian Press

Where the Black Mountains pierce the sky, they divide the south from the north, Alamir from the kingdom of Belenus. Belenus, the undying master of the north, commanded Keiran – the Captain of the Hosts – to conquer Alamir. But the Captain is deep in conspiracy, and he has his own plans. The Valley of Decision is a fantasy novel, a saga of slavery, freedom, and choices.

Amazon - SALT Christian Press

Shannon McDermott is a Christian author of speculative fiction, as well as a humorous detective series called "The Adventures of Christian Holmes". She has written both fantasy and science fiction, and has yet to decide on which one to like better. She was born to Wisconsin, expatriates in California, grew up on the East Coast, and now lives in the Midwest. Her principal hobbies are politics, history, novels, and coffee.

Website - Blog - Goodreads - Facebook

Tour-Wide Giveaway - Grand Prize: $25 Amazon gift card and ebooks of The Valley of Decision and The Sunrise Windows (open INT) - 2 print copies of The Valley of Decision (US only) a Rafflecopter giveaway a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Primordial Dust by Sarah Daltry

6/30/2014

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About the Book:

A princess, trained to behave. An assassin, betrothed to her. A thief, whose eyes she dreams of at night. A kingdom at war, torn apart by the suppression of magic and truth, as well as family secrets that threaten to destroy decades of peace.
Questions of loyalty, of morality, and of free will culminate in a fantasy novel about forging one’s own path and choosing one’s own destiny.

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About the Author:

Sarah Daltry writes about the regular people who populate our lives. She’s written works in various genres – romance, erotica, fantasy, horror. Genre isn’t as important as telling a story about people and how their lives unfold. Sarah tends to focus on YA/NA characters but she’s been known to shake it up. Most of her stories are about relationships – romantic, familial, friendly – because love and empathy are the foundation of life. It doesn’t matter if the story is set in contemporary NY, historical Britain, or a fantasy world in the future – human beings are most interesting in the ways they interact with others. This is the principle behind all of Sarah’s stories.

Sarah has spent most of her life in school, from her BA and MA in English and writing to teaching both at the high school and college level. She also loves studying art history and really anything because learning is fun.

When Sarah isn’t writing, she tends to waste a lot of time checking Facebook for pictures of cats, shooting virtual zombies, and simply staring out the window.
TWITTER: @SarahDaltry
FACEBOOK
WEBSITE
GOODREADS

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Spelled by Kate St. Clair

6/29/2014

0 Comments

About Spelled:
Title: Spelled

Author: Kate St. Clair

Genre: YA Paranormal

Magic runs thicker than blood.

16-year-old Georgia Sayers may have just found out she's descended from two of the most powerful witches in history, but others have known for a long time, and are hunting her. Can she protect her siblings from them before it's too late?

Buy Links:

Amazon Buy from publisher

Review:
"The world we've opened is too big for me. There are a million things I don't understand, and all of them can hurt me."
This young adult, paranormal novella, coming in at about 100 pages, packs in a lot of action right off the bat. Georgia Sayers is 16 years old, but has had a traumatic childhood. Now, she lives with her four siblings and step-father. Sometimes she still sees weird visions and gets weird feelings. Some people still call her mother a witch. When she feels a strong pull to a new guy at school, a whole new and dangerous world opens up to Georgia and her siblings that her mother tried to protect them from.

This was a very engaging, fast-paced and fun story. I wish it didn't end so quickly. In the very beginning we are thrown into another tragic incident at a neighboring school, the rest of the book ties together that incident, all of the characters and the tragedy in Georgia's past. Leading with this mystery left a lot to be answered in this novella. I did enjoy Georgia's character, she easily to relate to and the way she discovers her abilities comes about in a natural way. Though witchcraft is a popular genre, I felt like the story was very unique and there are many detailed accounts of spells and Wicca. There is a layering on of mystery and thrills and secrets uncovered that kept me interested. It was a little annoying that Georgia kept playing yo-yo with Luke, but that's a 16 year-old girl for you. I'll be looking forward to the next book in the Amethyst series.

About the Author:
Kate grew up in Austin, TX, before she attended boarding school in California. She was accepted to the Chapman University Creative Writing program before she wrote SPELLED - Amethyst, Book One, released on April 1st 2014. SPELLED is a paranormal YA series published by Black Hill Press. When she's not writing, Kate is riding horses, walking her dogs, or playing with her pet pig, Miley.

Read an Excerpt:
THE MESSAGE

A few people are clumped around my locker wing, making a very inconvenient barrier. I try to skirt around them politely, then realize no one is talking. The girl closest to me meets my eye, and I can almost see her retreating away from me in her mind. Like smoke dissolving into the air, the group disperses in opposite directions. When I step up to my locker, my bag slips out of my hands. All six of my books land on top of my foot, but I barely even flinch.

The tattered wing of a bird has been nailed into my locker door.

It hangs there lifelessly, the pale grey feathers contrasting with the yellow paint behind them. It’s small enough to be a dove’s, or maybe a pigeon’s.

Under the gift, someone wrote a message in streaked, red letters...

WE SEE YOU.

0 Comments

Harvesting Space for A Greener Earth

6/26/2014

1 Comment

Harvesting Space For A Greener Earth
by Greg Matloff, C. Bangs, Les Johnson

Publisher: Springer
About:
What was our planet like in years past? How has our civilization affected Earth and its ecology? Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth, the Second Edition of Paradise Regained: The Regreening of the Earth, begins by discussing these questions, and then generates a scenario for the restoration of Earth. It introduces new and innovative ideas on how we could use Solar System and its resources for terrestrial benefit.

The environmental challenges that face us today cannot be resolved by conservation and current technologies alone. Harvesting Space highlights the risk of humankind’s future extinction from environmental degradation. Population growth, global climate change, and maintaining sustainability of habitats for wildlife are all considered, among other issues.

Rather than losing heart, we need to realize that the solutions to these problems lie in being good stewards of the planet and in the development of space. Not only will the solutions offered here avert a crisis, they will also provide the basis for continued technological and societal progress. Tapping the resources of near-Earth asteroids will lead to methods of diverting those asteroids that threaten Earth. Space-based terrestrial power generation systems will work synergistically with Earth-based conservation.

This book needs to be read urgently and widely, if we are to save ourselves from environmental disaster, reduce the risk of catastrophic cosmic impacts, and build a prosperous and sustainable future for all the creatures of Earth.

Review:
The Earth is undergoing rapid climate change, humans are utilizing Earth's resources at an unprecedented rate. If the human population continues this way, we will see ourselves in even more trouble very soon. Matloff, Bangs and Johnson present a different type of solution to some of our climate-change and resource use issues upon the Earth; Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth gives plausible ideas for resource use from space and technology placed in space to assist those on Earth.
The bulk of the book acts as a primer on understanding basic scientific principles, our solar system, the evolution of life on Earth, human's use of the Earth, and climate change principles; all of this however goes to support their thesis that we need to stop polluting and using resources from the Earth and instead carry out processes, harvest resources and use technology in space. Since I studied most of this in school, it was a review for me, but it is written in a way that those not well-versed in science can easily understand. The ideas for harvesting resources from space and using space-based technology to help us on Earth were very interesting to me. In the book the authors describe two camps, and I easily fall into the environmentalist side, where I use less resources, reduce pollution and recycle everything. The author's side of the coin, space advocates, can work with my side, but their ideas were very out of the box for me. One of the proposed ideas was to place heavy industry and pollution-creating processes in a place that is inhospitable to life, like the moon. This idea is hard for me to come to terms with, not because of it's plausibility, but because of it's impact. One of the ideas I liked more was harvesting resources from Near Earth Objects, asteroids and comets that may contain up to a year's worth of iron in one object. These NEO's have also been shown to contain nickel, platinum, copper and gold. Some of these objects might come close to hitting the Earth and would have to be moved off that trajectory, the author's motto of "If we gotta move them, why not use them?" seems very wise. I was also highly intrigued by using solar shade and Dyson dots in space as a way of mitigating the climate change that is already happening. Of course, the catch and cost of these technologies was discussed. Overall, Harvesting Space offers new ideas that need to be readily explored and put into place in order to avoid the environmental downfall that humans are heading towards.

About the Authors:
Dr. Greg Matloff, is a leading expert in possibilities for interstellar propulsion , especially near-Sun solar-sail trajectories that might ultimately enable interstellar travel. and is an emeritus and adjunct associate astronomy professor with the physics department of New York City College of Technology, CUNY, a consultant with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, a Hayden Associate of the American Museum of Natural History and a Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He co-authored with Les Johnson of NASA and C Bangs Paradise Regained (2009), Living Off the Land in Space (2007) and has authored Deep-Space Probes (edition 1: 2000 and edition 2: 2005). As well as authoring More Telescope Power (2002), Telescope Power (1993), The Urban Astronomer (1991), he co-authored with Eugene Mallove The Starflight Handbook. (1989). His papers on interstellar travel, the search for extraterrestrial artifacts, and methods of protecting Earth from asteroid impacts have been published in JBIS, Acta Astronautica, Spaceflight, Space Technology, Journal of Astronautical Sciences, and Mercury. His popular articles have appeared in many publications, including Analog. In 1998, he won a $5000 prize in the international essay contest on ETI sponsored by the National Institute for Discovery Science. . He served on a November 2007 panel organized by Seed magazine to brief Congressional staff on the possibilities of a sustainable, meaningful space program. In 2011, he co-authored with C Bangs an artist’s book entitled Biosphere Extension: Solar System Resources for the Earth.

Professor Matloff is a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society and a Member of the International Academy of Astronautics. He has chaired many technical sessions and is listed in numerous volumes of Who’s Who. In 2008, he was honored as Scholar on Campus at New York City College of Technology. His most recent astronautics book, co-authored with Italian researcher Dr. Giovanni Vulpetti and Les Johnson, is Solar Sails: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel, Springer (2008). In addition to his interstellar-travel research, he has contributed to SETI (the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), modeling studies of human effects on Earth’s atmosphere, interplanetary exploration concept analysis, alternative energy, in-space navigation, and the search for extrasolar planets. His website is www.gregmatloff.com.

C Bangs’ art investigates frontier science combined with symbolist figuration from an ecological feminist point of view. Her work is included in public and private collections as well as in books and journals. Public Collections include the Library of Congress, NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center, The British Interplanetary Society, New York City College of Technology, Pratt Institute, Cornell University and Pace University. I Am the Cosmos exhibition at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton included her work, Raw Materials from Space and the Orbital Steam Locomotive. Her art has been included in eight books and two peer- reviewed journal articles, several magazine articles and art catalogs. Merging art and science, she worked for three summers as a NASA Faculty Fellow, and under a NASA grant she investigated holographic interstellar probe message plaques. Her recent artist’s book collaboration with Greg Matloff, Biosphere Extension: Solar System Resources for the Earth, was recently collected by the Brooklyn Museum for their artist-book collection.

“The artist C Bangs and astronomer Greg Matloff are long time partners and collaborators whose mutual interests and complementary talents serve them well. For many years, Bangs has been the artist who provides the graphic interpretation of their scientific books, they have achieved another level; their work has never been so well integrated, as they have found a method where text and image become one, rather than one illustrating the other. The more esoteric points of Matloff’s research find an accessibility, while Bangs more than ever seamlessly offers us, through imagery, a lyrical telling of their story for the quest to access solar system resources for the Earth.” – Maddy Rosenberg, Central Booking Gallery, NYC

Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth, published by Springer, is due out this year.

Visit Bangs at her website, www.cbangs.com.

Les Johnson is a physicist, and the author of several popular science books about space exploration, Living Off the Land in Space, Solar Sailing: A Novel Approach to Interplanetary Travel, Paradise Regained: The Regreening of Earth, Sky Alert: When Satellites Fail, and Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth, as well as three science fiction books, Back to the Moon, Going Interstellar, and Rescue Mode.

He is also the Senior Technical Advisor for NASA’s Advanced Concepts Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Les is the NASA Co-Investigator (Co-I) for the European Union’s Deploytech Solar Sail demonstration mission planned for launch in 2015. He was the NASA Co-I for the JAXA T-Rex Space Tether Experiment and PI of NASA’s ProSEDS Experiment. During his career at NASA, he served as the Manager for the Space Science Programs and Projects Office, the In-Space Propulsion Technology Program, and the Interstellar Propulsion Research Project. He thrice received NASA’s Exceptional Achievement Medal and has 3 patents.

Les is a frequent contributor to the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society and a member of the National Space Society, the World Future Society, and MENSA. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board for the British Interplanetary Society and is Chairman of the Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop. Les was the featured “interstellar explorer” in the January 2013 issue of National Geographic magazine and a technical consultant for the movie Europa Report.

Les earned his Master’s degree in physics from Vanderbilt University in 1986 and his Bachelor’s degree from Transylvania University in 1984.

Visit Les at his website, www.lesjohnsonauthor.com.

1 Comment

Baudelaire's Revenge by Bob Van Laerhoven

6/25/2014

0 Comments

About:
Publication Date: April 15, 2014
Pegasus Books

It is 1870, and Paris is in turmoil.
As the social and political turbulence of the Franco-Prussian War roils the
city, workers starve to death while aristocrats seek refuge in orgies and
seances. The Parisians are trapped like rats in their beautiful city but a
series of gruesome murders captures their fascination and distracts them from the realities of war. The killer leaves lines from the recently deceased
Charles Baudelaire’s controversial anthology Les Fleurs
du Mal on each corpse, written in the poet’s exact handwriting. Commissioner
Lefevre, a lover of poetry and a veteran of the Algerian war, is on the case,
and his investigation is a thrilling, intoxicating journey into the sinister
side of human nature, bringing to mind the brooding and tense atmosphere of
Patrick Susskind’s Perfume. Did Baudelaire rise from
the grave? Did he truly die in the first place? The plot dramatically appears to
extend as far as the court of the Emperor Napoleon III.
A vivid, intelligent, and intense historical crime novel that offers up some
shocking revelations about sexual mores in 19th century France, this superb
mystery illuminates the shadow life of one of the greatest names in poetry.

Praise for Baudelaire’s Revenge
“[An] intense historical crime thriller. The intricate plot, menacing
atmosphere, and rich evocations of period Paris have undeniable power.”
(Publishers Weekly)

“Vigorous. A finely-tuned balancing act between style and content. Add to
all this the extremely convincingly painted tragic characters and the multitude
of mysterious figures, and what you get is a winner who gives added luster to
this jubilee edition of the Hercule Poirot Prize.” (The jury of the Hercule
Poirot Prize)

“Van Laerhoven packs much complexity into 256 pages, giving this historical
mystery the heft of a far longer work ( …) The book’s main preoccupation is the
conclusive demonstration that everyone is guilty of something—the only mystery
is, to what degree? The flowers of evil, sketched in lurid botanical detail…”
(Kirkus Reviews)

“(A) decadent tale….Commissioner Lefèvre’s philosophical discussions with
artists and poets and a creepy Belgian dwarf are fascinating….” (NY Times Book
Review)

“Published for the first time in English, this roman policier isn’t so much
a straight detective story (although there are two detectives in it) as an
evocation of a mind-set that now seems extravagant: the 19th-century poet’s
fascination with sex and death. It’s no wonder this title won the Hercule
Poirot Prize: the author is Belgian, as is the prize, and the twisted plot is
as complicated as Agatha Christie’s most convoluted mystery. Mystery
aficionados will love this pastiche of Wilkie Collins and Edgar Allan Poe.”
(Library Journal)

“(A) gritty, detail-rich historical mystery novel involves the reader in a
subtle narrative web. This complex mystery from an award-winning Belgian author
joins history and literary history to create a sly, smart revenge tale.” (Shelf Awareness Pro)

Buy the Book
Amazon Barnes & Noble (Hardcover) Barnes & Noble (Nook) IndieBound

Review:
"Death. Baudelaire told me there was only one thing in life he respected. The end."

In Baudelaire's Revenge I was thrown into the turmoil of 1870's Paris, on the brink of the Franco-Prussian war. Commissioner Lefevre is charged with investigating a strange and shocking set of murders. Interestingly enough, all of the murders and victims seem to have a tie to the recently deceased poet, Charles Baudelaire. The intensity and passion of the murders increase with each victim and Lefevre begins to connect the dots to an unlikely suspect that may also want to kill him.

Intelligent and intriguing Baudelaire's Revenge was a historical mystery that not only had me hooked, but forced me to pay close attention as I read. I wasn't quite expecting the sensuous and seedy nature of some of the characters, but it really added to the uniqueness of what drove them to their actions. Written from several different points of view, the characters that gripped me the most were Lefevre and the suspected killer. Lefevre's memoirs of the Algerian war gripped me and his memories of that time were fascinating; this gave great depth to his character, actions and body of knowledge. Without giving any spoilers. the writing from one of the suspects point of view was what I found myself looking forward the most. Their story was surprising, sad and a lewd...but I couldn't tear myself away. As the book was wrapping up, I thought I had the mystery all figured out; however, Van Laerhoven has thrown in a few unexpected loops right at the end which made for an exciting closing.

About the Author:
Bob Van Laerhoven became a full-time author in 1991 and has written more
than thirty books in Holland and Belgium. The context of his stories isn’t
invented behind his desk, rather it is rooted in personal experience. As a
freelance travel writer, for example, he explored conflicts and trouble-spots
across the globe from the early 1990s to 2005. Echoes of his experiences on the road also trickle through in his novels. Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar… to name but a few.
During the Bosnian war, Van Laerhoven spent part of 1992 in the besieged
city of Sarajevo. Three years later he was working for MSF – Doctors without
frontiers – in the Bosnian city of Tuzla during the NATO bombings. At that
moment the refugees arrived from the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica. Van
Laerhoven was the first writer from the Low Countries to be given the chance to speak to the refugees. His conversations resulted in a travel book:
Srebrenica. Getuigen van massamoord – Srebrenica. Testimony to a Mass
Murder. The book denounces the rape and torture of the Muslim population of
this Bosnian-Serbian enclave and is based on first-hand testimonies. He also
concludes that mass murders took place, an idea that was questioned at the time
but later proven accurate.

All these experiences contribute to Bob Van Laerhoven’s rich and commendable
oeuvre, an oeuvre that typifies him as the versatile author of novels, travel
stories, books for young adults, theatre pieces, biographies, poetry,
non-fiction, letters, columns, articles… He is also a prize-winning author: in
2007 he won the Hercule Poirot Prize for best thriller of the year with his
novel De Wraak van Baudelaire – Baudelaire’s Revenge.

For more information please visit Bob Van Laerhoven’s website. You can also
connect with him on Facebook and Twitter.

0 Comments

Love and Treasure by Ayelet Waldman

6/23/2014

0 Comments

Please join Ayelet Waldman as she tours the blogosphere for Love and Treasure from May 27 to July 3.

photo 691f7933-8c7a-4a1c-b732-190cb8e1786c.png

Publication Date: April 1, 2014
Knopf Publishing
Formats: Ebook, Hardcover, Audio

A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War.

In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.

A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart—Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past.

Review

An astonishing and surprising story of a special piece of jewelery and the lives it affected throughout it's long journey. After World War II, Lieutenant Jack Wiseman is charged to examine and organize the contents of the Hungarian Gold Train. Filled with the items that made up the lives of Hungary's Jewish population, Jack is left to sift through thousands of dishes, linens, watches, candlesticks and jewelery, hoping that it will find it's way back to the families or any living heirs of the people it once belonged to. Jack meets Ilona, recently released from a concentration camp and is intrigued by her strength and determination. As he attempts to find any of Ilona's belongings among the Gold Train, he comes across a unique peacock locket that originated from Ilona's home town of Nagyvarad. Years later, shortly before his death, Jack charges his granddaughter, Natalie to find an ancestor of the owner of his pilfered locket and return it to them.

I found this novel absolutely engaging, heartfelt and bittersweet. It was difficult for me to get my feelings written down for this one, since they were all over the place. Ayelet Waldman has created a band a characters that are real and with raw emotions and actions that made this story resonate within me. Though told from several different points of view, Jack's character is seen through several different points in his life and his quest to return the items from the Gold Train, no matter how feeble a venture it may seems, never waivers.

" 'You guard so conscientiously that treasure train. And for whom?' For the Jews of Hungary, Jack wished he could reply. But of course by now he feared that was no more than the vaguest and most unlikely of hopes."

Bravely, Love and Treasure not only deals with the thieving from the Gold Train and the poor treatment of those liberated from the concentration camps, but through another set of absorbing characters the women's suffrage movement in Budapest is explored, as well as common medical treatment for women's ailments at the time. Nina and Gizella were awe-inspiring; their story adds richness and even more mystery to the peacock necklace. The necklace as a character itself ties the stories of these distinct characters together and I thoroughly enjoyed the the tale it divulged as I learned it's story. I love learning about history through fiction, and Love and Treasure brought to light parts of the past that have long been swept under the rug.

Buy the Book

Amazon US
Audible.com
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound

Watch the Book Trailer

Praise for Love and Treasure

“Love and Treasure is something of a treasure trove of a novel. Its beautifully integrated parts fit inside one another like the talismanic pendant/ locket at the heart of several love stories. Where the opening chapters evoke the nightmare of Europe in the aftermath of World War II with the hallucinatory vividness of Anselm Kiefer’s disturbing canvases, the concluding chapters, set decades before, in a more seemingly innocent time in the early 20th century, are a bittersweet evocation, in miniature, of thwarted personal destinies that yet yield to something like cultural triumph. Ayelet Waldman is not afraid to create characters for whom we feel an urgency of emotion, and she does not resolve what is unresolvable in this ambitious, absorbing and poignantly moving work of fiction.”
—Joyce Carol Oates

“One is quickly caught up in Love and Treasure with its shifting tones and voices—at times a document, a thriller, a love story, a search—telescoping time backwards and forwards to vividly depict a story found in the preludes and then the after-effects of the Holocaust. Waldman gives us remarkable characters in a time of complex and surprising politics.”
—Michael Ondaatje

“Love and Treasure is like the treasure train it chases: fast-paced, bound by a fierce mission, full of bright secrets and racingly, relentlessly moving.”
—Daniel Handler

“Complex and thoughtful, moving and carefully researched, this is a novel to love and treasure.”
—Philippa Gregory

“This lush, multigenerational tale… traces the path of a single pendant…. Inventively told from multiple perspectives, Waldman’s latest is a seductive reflection on just how complicated the idea of ‘home’ is–and why it is worth more than treasure.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A sensitive and heartbreaking portrayal of love, politics, and family secrets . . . Waldman’s appealing novel recalls the film The Red Violin in its following of this all-important object through various periods in history and through many owners. Fans of historical fiction will love the compelling characters and the leaps backward and forward in time.”
—Mariel Pachucki, Library Journal

About the Author

Ayelet Waldman is the author of the newly released Love and Treasure (Knopf, January 2014), Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was made into a film starring Natalie Portman. Her personal essays and profiles of such public figures as Hillary Clinton have been published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her radio commentaries have appeared on "All Things Considered" and "The California Report."

For more information please visit Ayelet's website. Her missives also appear on Facebook and Twitter.

Her books are published throughout the world, in countries as disparate as England and Thailand, the Netherlands and China, Russia and Israel, Korea and Italy.?

Virtual Book Tour Schedule

Tuesday, May 27
Review at Kinx's Book Nook
Review at A Bibliotaph's Reviews

Wednesday, May 28
Guest Post at Passion for Novels

Thursday, May 29
Review at Mari Reads

Friday, May 30
Review at She Reads Novels
Review at Dianne Ascroft's Blog

Monday, June 2
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Tuesday, June 3
Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Wednesday, June 4
Review at Seaside Book Corner

Thursday, June 5
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Friday, June 6
Interview at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Monday, June 9
Review at Closed the Cover

Tuesday, June 10
Interview at Closed the Cover

Wednesday, June 11
Review at A Bookish Girl
Review at Peeking Between the Pages

Friday, June 13
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Monday, June 16
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection

Wednesday, June 18
Review at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, June 19
Review at Book Nerd

Friday, June 20
Review at Curling Up with a Good Book

Monday, June 23
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Tuesday, June 24
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Wednesday, June 25
Review at Lit Nerd

Thursday, June 26
Review at The Little Reader Library

Friday, June 27
Review at Man of la Book

Monday, June 30
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Just One More Chapter
Interview at Layered Pages

Tuesday, July 1
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Wednesday, July 2
Review at From L.A. to LA
Review at Mina's Bookshelf

Thursday, July 3
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

0 Comments

The Witch of Luna Hill

6/18/2014

1 Comment

The Witch of Luna Hill
Neel Kay
(The Witch of Luna Hill #1)
Publication date: February 14th 2013
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

A year ago, Aia was found dead in a lake. Fortunately, her rescuer managed to resuscitate her. But how she ended up in the water in the first place, she doesn’t remember. Actually, she doesn’t remember one single thing about her old life from before she died.

Now she lives her monotone life by the edge of the Great Forest in which she works hard day in and day out. Up there in Northland beyond the mountains, the war against supernatural beings, humans with strange abilities and all who side with them isn’t quite as visible as in the rest of Bragimark.

But when she meets Merian Storm, a privileged student trying to escape her dysfunctional family and the memory of the man she loved, Aia is jerked out of her comfort zone and thrown into a journey across the haunted mountains in search of her past.

When entering Merian’s war-torn home in the south, Aia’s role in the war becomes significant and so does her presence in the lives of the Storm family and vice versa – especially Merian’s rogue brother.

Review:
Two girls, completely different have been brought together to help their war-torn region. Aia, who can not remember anything from more than a year ago, not even her real name, has been given a powerful weapon that might help end the war. But what secrets does her locked memory hold? Merian is a rough and tumble social outcast at her school who begged a friend, Birk, to spend the summer at his uncle's house in Thunder Rock rather than face her saddened mother. Merian's mother takes her frustration out on Merian ever since Merian's brother, Lyder joined the opposing forces, the greys.

This fantasy had me completely absorbed! A fast-paced and exciting adventure that kept me interested throughout the whole story. The suspense and mysteries of Aia's past were intriguing. I enjoyed that there were two powerful female points of view. Although Merian is figuring out a rough family life and Aia does not know her past, both women have a strong sense of self and throughout the novel, develop even more. There is a romance component to this story, it didn't bother me but the fantasy and adventure can stand by itself. I loved the world of Bragimark and the magic within, the world-building was beautifully done and I could picture the forests, mountains and cliffs that Merian and Aia's perilous adventures took place on. The ending was absolutely riveting, and very twisty. The cliff-hanger, to-be-continued ending left me wanting to read the next installment right away.

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About the Author
Introvert, creative, awkward.

Neel Kay lives with her husband and two kids in rural surroundings in the south of Denmark, not far from the German border. She’s a trained milliner, studied English at university, and now works a day job as a web editor. But she’s been writing always.

Love coffee, scarves and sea views. Oh, and butt-kicking heroines who know how to swing a sword and aren’t afraid to get a little dirty.
Website Goodreads Facebook Twitter
Follow the Tour
June 16th
-Ebook Escapes >> Guest Post
-Beneath the Jacket Reviews >> Review
-Rose Shadow Ink >> Review
-Chelsea’s Reading Adventures >> Review

June 17th
-Roxy’s Reviews >> Review
-Bookwyrming Thoughts >> Excerpt
-nicky peacock author >> Review
-Pieces of Whimsy >> Interview

June 18th
-Word to Dreams >> Review
-We Do Write >> Interview
-Girls With Books >> Excerpt

June 19th
-Mom With A Kindle >> Interview
-Raizza’s Book Blogging Adventure >> Review
-100 Pages a Day >> Review

June 20th
-Platypire Reviews >> Review
-Addicted Readers >> Guest Post
-The Cover Contessa >> Top 10 List

1 Comment

Murder By Misrule Blog Tour

6/17/2014

5 Comments

Blurb:
Publication Date: June 8, 2014
Francis Bacon is charged with investigating the murder of a fellow barrister at Gray’s Inn. He recruits his unwanted protégé Thomas Clarady to do the tiresome legwork. The son of a privateer, Clarady will do anything to climb the Elizabethan social ladder. Bacon’s powerful uncle Lord Burghley suspects Catholic conspirators of the crime, but other motives quickly emerge. Rival barristers contend for the murdered man’s legal honors and wealthy clients. Highly-placed courtiers are implicated as the investigation reaches from Whitehall to the London streets. Bacon does the thinking; Clarady does the fencing. Everyone has something up his pinked and padded sleeve. Even the brilliant Francis Bacon is at a loss — and in danger — until he sees through the disguises of the season of Misrule.

The Francis Bacon Mystery Series
This series of historical mysteries features the philosopher-statesman Francis Bacon as a sleuth and spymaster. Since Francis prefers the comfort of his own chambers, like his spiritual descendent Nero Wolfe, he sends his pupil, the handsome young Thomas Clarady, out to gather information. Tom loves the work, not least because he meets so many interesting people, like Lord Burghley, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Christopher Marlowe. Murder by Misrule is the first book in the series.

Review:

" Ben shook his head, bemused, 'It seems too simple.'
Bacon answered crisply, 'Simplicity is often the sign of truth.' "

A highly entertaining murder-mystery set in Elizabethan England with a wonderful set of characters. Francis Bacon has fallen out of favor with Queen Elizabeth and on the day of the Queen's Day Pageant he stumbles across the body of his former tutor and fellow barrister at Gray's Inn, Tobias.Smythson. Francis is tasked with solving the murder, which may very well include a Catholic conspiracy, and will hopefully place him back within the Queen's favor. Francis sends out four of his students, including Thomas Clarady to do most of the dirty work for him. While trying to solve Smython's murder, the Season of Misrule returns, where pranks and silliness abound; there will be several more murders, Thomas falls in love with a widow who may or may not have a live husband and all of Tom's friends may not appear to be who they seem.

Anna Castile presents an engaging mystery with smart and witty writing. I'm pretty much up for anything set in the Elizabethan era and I enjoyed reading about real-life characters Francis Bacon and Queen Elizabeth herself. Bacon is a favorite of mine and he was placed in a very believable role of the sleuth, his work in developing the scientific method and empiricism makes his character a good teacher as well as prime candidate for solving the intricate mysteries during the season of misrule. While Francis is the sleuth, most of the story comes from Thomas Clarady's point of view, a young and dashing student who easily falls in love with one of the key witnesses to the murder. Tom's character was entertaining and humorous as he and his friends try to track down witnesses. I do wish Francis would have made more appearances, hopefully there will be more Francis Bacon Mysteries to come.

The dapper Sir Francis Bacon

About the Author
Anna Castle has been a waitress, software engineer, documentary linguist, college professor, and digital archivist. Historical fiction combines her lifelong love of stories and learning. She physically resides in Austin, Texas, and mentally counts herself a queen of infinite space.

For more information please visit Anna Castle’s website and blog. You can also follow her on Facebook.

Buy the Book:
Barnes & Noble Smashwords Amazon

Giveaway!
Leave a comment below for a chance to win a paperback copy of Murder by Misrule. Contest open to USA and Canada only. Ends July 5, 2014.

Follow the Tour
Monday, June 2
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Tuesday, June 3
Interview at Flashlight Commentary
Guest Post at Historical Fiction Connection
Wednesday, June 4
Book Blast at The Musings of ALMYBNENR
Friday, June 6
Review at Book Nerd
Monday, June 9
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews
Wednesday, June 11
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book
Thursday, June 12
Review at Curling Up By the Fire
Monday, June 16
Book Blast at Closed the Cover
Tuesday, June 17
Review & Giveaway at 100 Pages a Day
Wednesday, June 18
Book Blast at CelticLady’s Reviews
Thursday, June 19
Review at Bibliotica
Book Blast at Historical Fiction Obsession
Friday, June 20
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Interview at All Things Girl
Monday, June 23
Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway at A Bookish Affair
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story
Book Blast at So Many Books, So Little Time
Tuesday, June 24
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Thursday, June 26
Review at Layered Pages
Review at Kinx’s Book Nook
Friday, June 27
Book Blast at Caroline Wilson Writes
Monday, June 30
Book Blast at Historical Tapestry
Tuesday, July 1
Interview at Starting Fresh
Wednesday, July 2
Review at Kincavel Korner
Thursday, July 3
Review & Giveaway at The True Book Addict
Guest Post & Giveaway at Bibliophilia, Please
Friday, July 4
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views

5 Comments

Love and Treasure

6/11/2014

3 Comments

About Love & Treasure by Ayelet Waldman

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Knopf (April 1, 2014)

A spellbinding new novel of contraband masterpieces, tragic love, and the unexpected legacies of forgotten crimes, Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Treasure weaves a tale around the fascinating, true history of the Hungarian Gold Train in the Second World War.

In 1945 on the outskirts of Salzburg, victorious American soldiers capture a train filled with unspeakable riches: piles of fine gold watches; mountains of fur coats; crates filled with wedding rings, silver picture frames, family heirlooms, and Shabbat candlesticks passed down through generations. Jack Wiseman, a tough, smart New York Jew, is the lieutenant charged with guarding this treasure—a responsibility that grows more complicated when he meets Ilona, a fierce, beautiful Hungarian who has lost everything in the ravages of the Holocaust. Seventy years later, amid the shadowy world of art dealers who profit off the sins of previous generations, Jack gives a necklace to his granddaughter, Natalie Stein, and charges her with searching for an unknown woman—a woman whose portrait and fate come to haunt Natalie, a woman whose secret may help Natalie to understand the guilt her grandfather will take to his grave and to find a way out of the mess she has made of her own life.

A story of brilliantly drawn characters—a suave and shady art historian, a delusive and infatuated Freudian, a family of singing circus dwarfs fallen into the clutches of Josef Mengele, and desperate lovers facing choices that will tear them apart--Love and Treasure is Ayelet Waldman’s finest novel to date: a sad, funny, richly detailed work that poses hard questions about the value of precious things in a time when life itself has no value, and about the slenderest of chains that can bind us to the griefs and passions of the past.

Giveaway:
Leave a comment to win one copy of Love and Treasure (US ONLY). Ends July 15, 2014.

Review:
An astonishing and surprising story of a special piece of jewelery and the lives it affected throughout it's long journey. After World War II, Lieutenant Jack Wiseman is charged to examine and organize the contents of the Hungarian Gold Train. Filled with the items that made up the lives of Hungary's Jewish population, Jack is left to sift through thousands of dishes, linens, watches, candlesticks and jewelery, hoping that it will find it's way back to the families or any living heirs of the people it once belonged to. Jack meets Ilona, recently released from a concentration camp and is intrigued by her strength and determination. As he attempts to find any of Ilona's belongings among the Gold Train, he comes across a unique peacock locket that originated from Ilona's home town of Nagyvarad. Years later, shortly before his death, Jack charges his granddaughter, Natalie to find an ancestor of the owner of his pilfered locket and return it to them.

I found this novel absolutely engaging, heartfelt and bittersweet. It was difficult for me to get my feelings written down for this one, since they were all over the place. Ayelet Waldman has created a band a characters that are real and with raw emotions and actions that made this story resonate within me. Though told from several different points of view, Jack's character is seen through several different points in his life and his quest to return the items from the Gold Train, no matter how feeble a venture it may seems, never waivers.
" 'You guard so conscientiously that treasure train. And for whom?' For the Jews of Hungary, Jack wished he could reply. But of course by now he feared that was no more than the vaguest and most unlikely of hopes."
Bravely, Love and Treasure not only deals with the thieving from the Gold Train and the poor treatment of those liberated from the concentration camps, but through another set of absorbing characters the women's suffrage movement in Budapest is explored, as well as common medical treatment for women's ailments at the time. Nina and Gizella were awe-inspiring; their story adds richness and even more mystery to the peacock necklace. The necklace as a character itself ties the stories of these distinct characters together and I thoroughly enjoyed the the tale it divulged as I learned it's story. I love learning about history through fiction, and Love and Treasure brought to light parts of the past that have long been swept under the rug.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Ayelet Waldman
Ayelet Waldman is the author of the forthcoming Love and Treasure (Knopf, April 2014), Red Hook Road and The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace. Her novel Love and Other Impossible Pursuits was adapted into a film called “The Other Woman” starring Natalie Portman. Her personal essays and profiles of such public figures as Hillary Clinton have been published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Vogue, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. Her radio commentaries have appeared on “All Things Considered” and “The California Report.” Her books are published throughout the world, in countries as disparate as England and Thailand, the Netherlands and China, Russia and Israel, South Korea and Italy.

Connect with Ayelet
Website | Book Clubs | Facebook | Twitter| Goodreads

Ayelet Waldman’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:
Monday, June 9th: Linus’s Blanket - “Out of 20″ Q&A
Tuesday, June 10th: A Bookish Way of Life
Wednesday, June 11th: 100 Pages a Day… Stephanie’s Book Reviews
Monday, June 16th: Book-alicious Mama
Tuesday, June 17th: Sharon’s Garden of Book Reviews
Wednesday, June 18th: My Shelf Confessions
Thursday, June 19th: Reading Reality
Monday, June 23rd: Historical Tapestry – “Why I Love…” guest post
Tuesday, June 24th: Lit and Life
Thursday, June 26th: Book Addict Katie
Monday, June 30th: Books a la Mode – author guest post
Tuesday, July 1st: Adventures of an Intrepid Reader
Wednesday, July 2nd: Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Monday, July 7th: Fiction Addict
Tuesday, July 8th: Patricia’s Wisdom
Wednesday, July 9th: Perks of Being a JAP
Thursday, July 10th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Monday, July 14th: Bibliotica
Tuesday, July 15th: Walking With Nora

3 Comments

The Cook's Temptation

6/9/2014

0 Comments

About the Book
Publication Date: February 1, 2014
Mosaic Press
Formats: Ebook, Paperback Joyce Wayne brings to life the complexities of Victorian life, first in County Devon and then in London’s East End. The ‘big picture’ is about one woman’s life, class conflict, religious intolerance, suspicion and betrayal. The central figure is Cordelia, a strong-minded Jewish woman who is caught between her desire to be true to herself and her need to be accepted by English society.Cordelia Tilley is the daughter of a Jewish mother and an Anglican father. Her mother has groomed her for a life in English society while her father, a tough publican, has shown no tolerance for his wife’s social climbing or the conceits of their perspicacious daughter. Cordelia’s mother dies from typhoid fever, she tries to run the family ‘s establishment, she falls prey to a local industrialist, she gives birth to a son, she is tormented by her husband and his family. Finally, she is rescued by suffragette friends and sets off to start a new life in London.The Cook’s Temptation is about a woman who is unpredictable, both strong and weak willed, both kind and heinous, victim and criminal. It is a genuine Victorian saga, full of detail, twists and turns, memorable scenes, full of drama and pathos.

Review:
Cordelia Tilley grew up in the English countryside, cooking with he mother at the Devil's Stone Inn. Her mother, a French Jew has passed on to Cordelia the love and ability to cook French Cuisine as well as some Jewish customs, which are still not welcome in Victorian England. Cordelia sees herself as the future cook at the Inn. However, when a typhoid epidemic sweeps through, Cordelia and her mother become ill. Cordelia survives and continues to carry out cooking for the Inn, when more and more people fall ill after eating at the Inn, people begin to suspect Cordelia as the cause. To escape the blame, Cordelia agrees to marry Frederick Wendice, a higher class, well-off, industrialist from London. Cordelia believes that she will be able to climb the social ladder and fulfill the dream of running her own kitchen. Her husband has other, more heinous plans for Cordelia though.

A story of delicious revenge...I didn't really know what to expect with this book, but I am very glad that I read it. A curious tale with many hidden layers and unseen twists, I became entwined within Cordelia's tale. Through her struggles, Cordelia became a character that I connected with and wanted to see come out on top, no matter through what means she reached her goal. She is strong-willed and determined, although she does not always make the best choices in life. Through emotionally packed writing, Joyce Wayne sucked me in. I wanted to see Cordelia come out on top even if it was not by the best means. There were many wonderful quotes throughout, but here were a few that really spoke to me

"I, alone, am responsible for my welfare, for I am the only one who can rain down havoc on Frederick Wendice's head-and in one way or the other-that is exactly what I intend to do."
"After today, I will no longer need to be concerned with frocks sewn with hard bustles or billowing sleeves or tiny waists which make me gasp for breath. After tonight's dinner, I will choose to exist outside the realm of what is fashionable and what is not. I will do as I please, dress as I please, cook as I please. If I get away with it...anything is possible."

Along with the strange Frederick Wendice and the intriguing Polly, Cordelia's story is absolutely absorbing. This book took on many issues of the time. I enjoy learning about history in my historical fiction and this novel took on not only the typhoid epidemic and medical treatment at the time, but also the treatment of those of Jewish Heritage in Victorian England and the treatment of women, some of which was reminiscent of The Yellow Wallpaper.

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About the Author
Joyce Wayne has an MA in English literature, has taught journalism at Sheridan College, Oakville, Ontario, for twenty-five years, and lives in Toronto, Ontario. She was a winner of the Diaspora Dialogues contest for fiction and the Fiona Mee Award for literary journalism. She is the co writer of the documentary film So Far From Home (2010), a film about refugee journalists persecuted for their political views, and various of her other works have been published in Parchment, Golden Horseshoe Anthology, Canadian Voices, and TOK6.

For more information please visit Joyce Wayne’s website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. She is happy to participate in Books Clubs by phone and Skype.

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