Blog Archives

Cosmos: Possible Worlds

10/27/2020

About the Book:
Cosmos: Possible Worlds
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic; Illustrated Edition (February 25, 2020)

This sequel to Carl Sagan’s blockbuster continues the electrifying journey through space and time, connecting with worlds billions of miles away and envisioning a future of science tempered with wisdom.

Based on National Geographic’s internationally-renowned television series, this groundbreaking and visually stunning book explores how science and civilization grew up together. From the emergence of life at deep-sea vents to solar-powered starships sailing through the galaxy, from the Big Bang to the intricacies of intelligence in many life forms, acclaimed author Ann Druyan documents where humanity has been and where it is going, using her unique gift of bringing complex scientific concepts to life. With evocative photographs and vivid illustrations, she recounts momentous discoveries, from the Voyager missions in which she and her husband, Carl Sagan, participated to Cassini-Huygens’s recent insights into Saturn’s moons. This breathtaking sequel to Sagan’s masterpiece explains how we humans can glean a new understanding of consciousness here on Earth and out in the cosmos–again reminding us that our planet is a pale blue dot in an immense universe of possibility.

Social Media
#cosmospossibleworlds
@tlcbooktours.

Purchase Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Review:
"The universe makes galaxies. Galaxies make stars. Stars make worlds."

Using the Cosmic Calendar as a guide, Ann Druyan takes us on a trip through time and space in Cosmos: Possible Worlds. Written in a way for anyone to understand, Ann uses stories to make the science of the universe come alive. Beginning with the start of life on Earth might seem like an impossible amount of information to fit into book,; however, only selected important advancements in science are highlighted throughout time. Throughout all of these scientific advancements, humans quest for knowledge along with our ability to adapt to new situations is overwhelming. I was continually amazed at human's capability to wonder and explore beyond what we can see. Throughout Cosmos the stage is set for human's capability to find and explore new worlds beyond our own. Hope is given that other worlds exist that are capable of supporting life as well as human life, just as Carl Sagan imagined.

About Ann Druyan

ANN DRUYAN is a celebrated writer and producer who co-authored many bestsellers with her late husband, Carl Sagan. She also famously served as creative director of the Voyager Golden Record, sent into space 40 years ago. Druyan continues her work as an interpreter of the most important scientific discoveries, partnering with NASA and the Planetary Society. She has served as Secretary of the Federation of American Scientists and is a laureate of the International Humanist Academy. Most recently, she received both an Emmy and Peabody Award for her work in conceptualizing and writing National Geographic’s first season of Cosmos.

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Drake- Tudor Corsair

10/20/2020

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About the Book:

Publication date: 5th August 2020
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Preseli Press Ltd
Print Length: 344 pages

1564

Devon sailor Francis Drake sets out on a journey of adventure.
Drake learns of routes used to transport Spanish silver and gold, and risks his life in an audacious plan to steal a fortune.

Queen Elizabeth is intrigued by Drake and secretly encourages his piracy. Her unlikely champion becomes a national hero, sailing around the world in the Golden Hind and attacking the Spanish fleet.

King Philip of Spain has enough of Drake’s plunder and orders an armada to threaten the future of England.

View on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08FCTYQF4

Review:
Francis Drake wishes for adventure on the sea. He finds a place within a ship Captained by his cousin where Francis learns of the lure of the sea along with the dangers. Francis' interactions with the Spanish on that trip fuel a lifelong rivalry. Drake works his way up to Captaining his own fleet in search of Spanish Gold. HIs adventures soon earn him an audience with Queen Elizabeth I who sends Drake on a mission of her own where he sets out to navigate the Strait of Magellan and ends up taking him around the world.

Drake-Tudor Corsair is an exciting high seas adventure documenting the life of Francis Drake. I didn't know much about Francis Drake and was delighted to read this history filled account. Like all of Tony Riches' other books, this is brimming with historical detail and accuracy. I enjoyed reading about Drake's voyages as well as his interactions with Queen Elizabeth I. All of the battles were exciting as well as exploring the many different lands. I would have loved a map of each of Drake's voyages to follow along with, but was able to figure out many of the areas through context. I was amazed by their life at sea and the constant dangers Drake and his crew faced. More so, I enjoyed reading about the friendships Drake made with crewmates along the way. I did have trouble connecting with Drake's motivations for his continued Spanish rivalry, especially after so many lost lives. Of course, I was most interested in Drake's interactions with Queen Elizabeth I and her own motivations for encouraging Drake's piracy. As always, it seems that Queen Elizabeth had her own intentions and kept them close at hand. Drake-Tudor Corsair is a great start to Tony Riches The Elizabethan Series.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

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Daughter of Black Lake

10/12/2020

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Join us for a fun tour with reviews accompanied by progressive excerpts on the blogs and a game of finding out your "Black Lake name" on Instagram!

About Daughter of Black Lake

• Hardcover: 320 pages • Publisher: Riverhead Books (October 6, 2020)

In a world of pagan traditions and deeply rooted love, a girl in jeopardy must save her family and community. A transporting historical novel by New York Times-bestselling author Cathy Marie Buchanan.

It’s the season of Fallow, in the era of iron. In a northern misty bog surrounded by woodlands and wheat fields, a settlement lies far beyond the reach of the Romans invading hundreds of miles to the southeast. Here, life is simple–or so it seems to the tightly knit community. Sow. Reap. Honor Mother Earth, who will provide at harvest time. A girl named Devout comes of age, sweetly flirting with the young man she’s tilled alongside all her life, and envisions a future of love and abundance. Seventeen years later, though, the settlement is a changed place. Famine has brought struggle, and outsiders, with their foreign ways and military might, have arrived at the doorstep. For Devout’s young daughter, life is more troubled than her mother ever anticipated. But this girl has an extraordinary gift. As worlds collide and peril threatens, it will be up to her to save her family and community.

Set in a time long forgotten, Daughter of Black Lake brings the ancient world to life and introduces us to an unforgettable family facing an unimaginable trial.

Social Media #daughterofblacklake, and tag @tlcbooktours, @riverheadbooks, and @cathymbuchanan.

Review:

In Iron Era Briton, the season of Fallow is upon the small community of Black Lake. The small community works the land, hunts, forges iron, and lives off of the land; protected by and ruled over by their gods. Sacrificing to them when rain does not stop or fields do not grow is part of their everyday life. For Devout, Mother Earth is her provider. Devout came of age that Fallow and is able to seek a mate. With this comes a choice, mate with Arc, a fellow field hand or a tradesman, Young Smith. As Devout is choosing, change is coming to Black Lake. A Druid comes to tell of the impending Roman invasion and most of the Smith clan goes to fight. Seventeen years later, Devout's daugher, Hobble sees the Roman's arrival in one of her visions. When a druid again shows up to Black Lake, he wants to use Hobble's visions to incite the villagers to fight.

Daughter of Black Lake weaves together the coming of age stories of mother and daughter for an intimate portrait of life within an Iron Age settlement. The point of view switches between Devout and Hobble as young women giving a progressive view of Black Lake and the people there. I enjoyed reading about the day to day activities of Black Lake and how much their beliefs in the four gods of Protector, War Master, Begetter, and Mother Earth affected their daily lives. I was enthralled by Devout's devotion to Mother Earth and the rituals she followed as well as Hobble's gift of sight and how she used it. The writing had immersed me in the lives of the people of Black Lake and their daily struggles and successes. While they lived a very different life from us, the uncertainties they faced and bonds they made felt very similar to life today.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Purchase Links

Penguin Random House | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Photo credit Heather Pollack

About Cathy Marie Buchanan

Cathy Marie Buchanan is the author of the nationally bestselling novels The Day the Falls Stood Still and The Painted Girls. She lives in Toronto.
Find out more about Cathy at her website, and connect with her on Facebookand Instagram.

Read An Excerpt:
Once he was gone, she slumped onto the trunk of a fallen beech. Had Young Smith set her reeling in quite the same way? Was that reasonable to ask when, as far back as she could remember, she had toiled in the fields with Arc? She knew she was prideful, aspiring. With the amulet on her palm, she had been uncharitable toward Reddish, jealous in truth. Was it only pride that had driven her to so recklessly want the amulet, to desire Young Smith? She sat there, stroking leaf litter and decay. She whispered to Mother Earth, promising humility and the amulet returned to Young Smith until she better understood her mind.
She turned her thoughts to the words she would speak to Young Smith and reached into the pocket of her cape, anticipating the craftsmanship, the grace. Her fingers felt only hide, the threads holding the pocket in place. She probed each corner, the emptiness. She held open the pocket and looked, but the amulet was not there. She fell to her hands and knees, hunting among leaf litter as the sun fell lower still, and then grazed the horizon. She galloped down the steep slope of Edge—feet flying, stumbling, catching herself. At the place where Young Smith had given her the amulet, she dropped again to her knees and searched until the sun was gone, until there was scarcely time to make it back to the clearing and begin the collection rounds with the other maidens—her hair dull and tangled, her skin ripe with the odor of panic and toil.
She wept, face in her hands, but only for a moment. Then she wept as she ran through the woodland and then across the clearing to her roundhouse and the fresh, sweet scent of the rushes newly laid over the earthen floor, spread there in deference to Mother Earth.
What would Devout say to Young Smith? How would she ex plain the cross that did not rest against her throat, that she had not returned to him? Oh, how he would despise her, she who had lost his prize.

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The Proctor Hall Horror

10/8/2020

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About the Book:
Bill Thompson brings his readers back the Bayou Lafourche for the seventh installment of The Bayou Hauntings series: The Proctor Hall Horror.

Back in 1963, a fourteen-year-old boy who’s never spoken a word was found sitting quietly on a stairway in his house. In a nearby sitting room, the bodies of his mother, father, and younger sister sat next to each other on a couch. Their heads are neatly arranged on the mantel. The boy – the only living person at Proctor Hall — is deemed unable to stand trial and spends decades locked away. When he’s released, at last, he comes back to live in the old Louisiana house.

For a class assignment, a university professor sends a team to the old plantation with a goal to learn about the now-abandoned house and its mysterious past. As the students uncover secrets, the school project becomes a tragedy beyond imagination. Landry and the crew are called in to investigate. As they learn the truth, the dark things that lurk inside Proctor Hall may claim even more victims.

Review:
In 1963 the Proctor family was found murdered in their Louisiana plantation home. They were gruesomely propped on the couch with their heads lined up on the mantle. Fourteen year-old Noah Proctor is the only one left alive; however, he has been mute all his life. Everyone assumes Noah was the murderer and he is sent to an institution. Years later, Noah is released to the caretakers of Proctor Hall and a young woman disappears nearby. Presently, Proctor Hall is left sitting vacant, owned by a paranormal investigator. When Julien Landry assigned a group of students to investigate the history of Proctor Hall for a class project, the murders began again. It seems that the spirits of Proctor Hall are still active and the spirits may not be the only dangerous thing lurking there.

The Proctor Hall Horror is an exciting supernatural horror that kept me guessing all of the way through. This is Book 7 in The Bayou Hauntings series, but can definitely be read as a stand alone. I was hooked from the very beginning with the disappearance of Marguey and very intrigued by the history of the house itself. There is a great build of suspense as the history of Proctor Hall is released alongside the present happenings. The supernatural beings and gore are well paced for constant speculation of whether or not the murders were being done by ghostly entities or real people. There were a lot of characters in here to keep straight, but they were all fully formed even if they were not in many scenes. I was very intrigued by Noah Proctor and would have loved a few more chapters from his point of view. Alice's character could have also used more attention, I wanted to know her history with her psychic abilities. Even after the mystery of who has committed the murders and why is revealed, the Proctor House still has more secrets to uncover that kept me swiftly reading until the end. The Proctor Hall Horror is a great blend of haunted house mystery and horror and I'd love to continue reading the other books in the series.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Buy the Box Set Here!

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How to Make a Life

10/5/2020

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About the Book:
How to Make a Life
By Florence Reiss Kraut

NEW FAMILY SAGA FOLLOWS ONE FAMILY ACROSS GENERATIONS
TACKLING TRAUMA AND CHALLENGES WITH COURAGE AND LOVE

“Florence Kraut has written a sensitive and compelling multigenerational novel that begins with tragedy and ends with hope. Each chapter traces a family member who erases the scars of history’s indelible mark with
courage, determination, faith and love. A wonderful read.”

Marsha Temlock, Author, The Exile and Your Child’s Divorce: What to Expect; What You Can Do

Matriarch Ida Amdur and her daughter Bessie escape from Ukraine to America in 1905, fleeing the persecution of Jews in a pogrom, or massacre, in which five members of their family were murdered. But fleeing one tragedy doesn’t guarantee an easy life for them or the generations that follow.
In How to Make a Life by Florence Reiss Kraut [She Writes Press, Oct. 2020], a multi-layered saga of four generations of the Weissman family, we see how the trauma and challenges faced by the family members impact their relationships and future generations. Betrayal, secrets, accidents, illnesses, good luck and bad are woven through the novel. As personal desires come into conflict with family needs, the Weissmans must accept each other’s mistakes and differences or risk cutting ties with the very people who anchor their place in the world.
Anyone who comes from a large, close family will recognize the intricacy of the connections among these varied and sometimes flawed people. Anyone who is not from such a family will learn from having entered this world. Readers of Colm Tóibín and Anne Patchett will devour How to Make a Life and it is a perfect book club pick.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
A native New Yorker, Florence Reiss Kraut was raised and educated in four of the five boroughs of New York City. With a BA in English and a Masters in Social Work she worked as a clinician, a family therapist and eventually CEO of a family service agency before retiring to write and travel. Her own close family of 26 aunts and uncles and 27 first cousins and listening to stories around the kitchen table, coffee klatches and family parties inspired her to write her fictional, multi-generational family drama, How to Make a Life.

She has published stories for children and teens, romance stories for national magazines, literary stories, and personal essays for the Westchester section of the New York Times. Her fiction has appeared in publications such as The Evening Street Press and SNReview.

Connect with Florence Reiss Kraut at FlorenceReissKraut.com, Facebook (@FlorenceReissKrautAuthor) and Goodreads.

How to Make a Life will be available October 2020 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org and more.

Review:
In 1905, Ida escaped the pograms of Kotovka, Ukraine that killed her husband, parents and most of her children. She escapes to America with her surviving ten-year old daughter Beilah and three month old daughter Feige only to have tragedy strike again. Ida builds her life up again, growing her family and taking care of her grandkids. As Ida watches her daughter and grandkids grow up she sees the effect of her past through the generations and how they learn to triumph.

How to Make A Life follows a family through five generations of hardship and survival through the years. The opening scene packed a strong punch and set a tone of struggle, loss and overcoming adversity as Ida's family was killed due to their religion. The writing is straightforward and does not mince words when it comes to typically difficult topics. Each chapter follows a different member of Ida's family through the years as they face different challenges in life and within their family. Through the generations, many different themes arose such as mental illness, grief, faithfulness, religion, PTSD, suicide, pregnancy loss and aging. Even though the story was told through so many different lenses, the family was always central to their thoughts and decisions. As the generations passed, I did have some trouble keeping some of the characters straight, however, the family tree diagram at the beginning helped me sort everyone out. Overall, an intriguing look at the complexity of familial relationships and the impact of a traumatic event on future generations.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

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