Tag Archives: Simon and Schuster

#6 – The Placebo Effect – David Rotenberg

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Decker Roberts has the dangerous gift of detecting the truth. For years this talent proved to be a lucrative sideline to his acting teaching. Only his closest friends know, and he keeps his identity secret from the companies that pay him to tell them if the people they are planning to hire are lying.

But Decker’s carefully compartmentalized life starts to fall apart. His house burns down, his credit cards are cancelled, his bank loan is called and his studio is condemned.

He realizes that he must have heard something in one of his truth telling sessions that someone didn’t want him to know.

Decker has to go on the run and figure out why he’s been targeted. There’s also a government agent hunting him who seems to know absolutely everything about Decker Roberts’ identities, real and false—and other people of “his kind.” How will Decker find out which truth is endangering his life?

Who betrayed him and revealed all his secrets? Decker needs to find answers quickly, before knowing the truth turns from a gift into a deadly curse.- Publishers Website

I really enjoyed the angle of this book.  Synesthesia is an actual phenomenon if you will, it does exist, if you happen to do a google search as I did.  My main question would be would you want to have this sort of magical super-power?  I guess it would have to be said I would love to have one, but not one that would get me into trouble for one, after all I am an angel…tee hee!  David’s writing was engrossing, informative, entertaining, and a terrific waste of time.  Just remember that this is the first in a series I believe of three books, with David giving me a bit of a scoop on the next one in a Q and A I did with him over email recently.   He just so happens to be a fellow Canadian, this isn’t his first book either.  He’s written 5 mysteries set in Modern China, as well as a best-selling historical fiction novel.  I don’t think I will have any resistance in grabbing his next novel, regardless of the setting, he sure can write !

Facebook – David’s Website – Excerpt – Reading Group Questions

Stay tuned, as I have done a Q and A with David, it will be posted right after I am done posting this review !!

#71 – The Lady of The Rivers – Philippa Gregory

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Passion. Danger. Witchcraft . . .

Descended from Melusina, the river goddess, Jacquetta always has had the gift of second sight. As a child visiting her uncle, she met his prisoner, Joan of Arc, and saw her own power reflected in the young woman accused of witchcraft. They share the mystery of the tarot card of the wheel of fortune before Joan is taken to a horrific death at the hands of the English rulers of France. Jacquetta understands the danger for a woman who dares to dream. Jacquetta is married to the Duke of Bedford, English regent of France, and he introduces her to a mysterious world of learning and alchemy. Her only friend in the great household is the duke’s squire Richard Woodville, who is at her side when the duke’s death leaves her a wealthy young widow. The two become lovers and marry in secret, returning to England to serve at the court of the young King Henry VI, where Jacquetta becomes a close and loyal friend to his new queen.

The Woodville’s soon achieve a place at the very heart of the Lancaster court, though Jacquetta can sense the growing threat from the people of England and the danger of royal rivals. Not even their courage and loyalty can keep the House of Lancaster on the throne. Henry the king slides into a mysterious sleep; Margaret the queen turns to untrustworthy favorites for help; and Richard, Duke of York, threatens to overturn the kingdom for his rival dynasty.

Jacquetta fights for her king, her queen, and for her daughter Elizabeth for whom Jacquetta can sense an extraordinary and unexpected future: a change of fortune, the throne of England, and the white rose of York. A sweeping, powerful story rich in passion and legend and drawing on years of research, The Lady of the Rivers tells the story of the real-life mother of the white queen. – Publishers Website

I really enjoyed this book.  This is Philippa’s third book in the Cousins War series, which I have read all three fiction books up until now.  The White Queen is about Elizabeth, Jaquetta’s Daughter;  The Red Queen was about Lady Margaret Beaufort who happened to be Mother to Henry VII; and this latest book who is about Jaquetta, how she was married off to the Duke of Bedford when she was young.  Jaquetta had eventually married the love of her life Edward Woodville too much displeasure and threats from court saying that if she married him she would be left penniless – and her dowry from her first husband taken away because Edward had no standing or royal bloodline.

She was also taught from a young age that she may have magical powers; it is when she is accused as a witch that things take a dramatic turn.  Between the war of the Cousins, there is nothing but treachery, war, long absences away from her only true love, their children, and not knowing what to expect in the future.  I quite enjoyed this book more than the previous The Red Queen, it was much easier to understand, I was more engrossed in this book, the characters I identified with more as their strength to survive was clear through the people they befriended, the people they held alliances with ( Henry the King’s Wife at the time was only interested in becoming Queen when her husband fell into a deep sleep and to quash her enemies) Lancaster vs. York, Good vs. Evil.

Even now as I think about all three books, I still have no idea who will ultimately prevail, but bloodshed will once again be spilt.  I am looking forward to the next novel in the series.

I have come across some negative reviews of this book on goodreads – about how the information is dumbed down because her audience is already set up for her, I don’t believe that.  Possibly she did leave out some of the magic,etc, but I do not feel that it had taken away from the plot or storyline whatsoever.  Sure, I did feel as if there should have been perhaps more about the magic part, because she talks about it much more in The White Queen, but, ultimately, I don’t feel it had taken anything away from the novel.  She was writing about Jacquetta, not her daughter.  It was more about the love story between her and her husband and the sacrifices they had to make during that tumultuous time between England / France and all the children they had with one another.

There is one further book Non-Fiction that explores The Cousins War entitled The Women of The Cousins’ War.  The Kingmaker’s Daughter is expected to come out sometime in August of 2012

Reading  Guide – Facebook – Browse Inside  – Goodreads – Website – Twitter

#65 – Witchlanders – Lena Coakley

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High in their mountain covens, red witches pray to the Goddess, protecting the Witchlands by throwing the bones and foretelling the future.

It’s all a fake.

At least, that’s what Ryder thinks. He doubts the witches really deserve their tithes—one quarter of all the crops his village can produce. And even if they can predict the future, what danger is there to foretell, now that his people’s old enemy, the Baen, has been defeated?

But when a terrifying new magic threatens both his village and the coven, Ryder must face the beautiful and silent witch who holds all the secrets. Everything he’s ever believed about witches, the Baen, magic and about himself will change, when he discovers that the prophecies he’s always scorned—

Are about him. – Publishers Website

I liked this book, let me just say that right off the bat.  I was skeptical at first.  The first time I had started to read the book, I put it down (and nearly abandoned it).  I’m usually not a fan of witch/zombie type books, but this one was interesting.

I like the premise of a teenager/adult wanting to leave his home for the sea, or at least that is where he wants to be.  But when his father dies, he is pretty much forced to stay and be the man of the house so to speak.  Then, the unimaginable happens – his mother foresees the future, the town/village they live in is attacked by some sort of fierce magic powers, his family has to  go to safety, he needs to find a way to keep them safe.  He meets a young man not much older than he is, they have different ideals based on their upbringing, but they are twins in a sense.  This is where the adventure begins.

I believe that there are three books in this series by Simon and Schuster’s Imprint Atheneum  Books for Young Readers.  I liked the writing of Lena, I hope to read the other books in this series.  I hope in the next 2 books that there is more of the same if not better in terms of the plot and storyline ( no pressure honest!)  And of course of where the main characters finally carry out in this tale.

Read an Excerpt – Lena’s Website – Twitter – Facebook – GoodReads

#63 – The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer – Michelle Hodkin

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Mara Dyer doesn’t think life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there.

It can.

She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her mysteriously unharmed.

There is.

She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love.

She’s wrong. – Publishers Website

I loved this book !! Even from the description on the back page, it is THAT intriguing !! After reading it, I am speechless, it was that darn good.

Since it is a young adult title from Simon and Schuster, it will appeal to an older audience as well.  We have a teenager who is coming to terms with the death of 2 of her good friends, she moves away, and more incidents of odd happenings follow her.  She has no memory of the accident, but, as time goes by, she begins to piece things together…She is shocked, scared and doesn’t know what to do.  Until she meets a boy in her new high school who she falls for, but he has his secrets as well.

As time goes by, they are inseparable.  At the end of this book (I believe there are 2 other books being written in the series) There are more questions than answers.  Some of the answers have been taken care of,  the most serious ones…haven’t.

Michelle is a supremely talented writer, I hope that when book 2 comes out, that talent is still here ready and waiting to thrill me like the first book did.  I do get overly critical of young adult books, because of the content.  However, with this book, I threw that out with abandon and absolutely loved this book !! It has all the facets of a thrill ride you will not soon forget.  So, go and get this book !!Make sure you check out the books trailer below – AMAZING !

Michelle’s Website – Michelle’s Blog – Twitter – GoodReads – Browse Inside

#44 – The Guilty Plea – Robert Rotenberg

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On the morning that his headline-grabbing divorce trial is set to begin, Terrance Wyler, youngest son of the Wyler Food dynasty, is found stabbed to death in the kitchen of his million-dollar home.

Detective Ari Greene arrives minutes before the press and finds Wyler’s four-year-old son asleep upstairs. When Wyler’s ex-wife, a strange beauty named Samantha, shows up at her lawyer’s office with a bloody knife, it looks as if the case is over.

But Greene soon discovers the Wyler family has secrets they’d like to keep hidden, and they’re not the only ones. If there’s one thing Greene knows, it’s that the truth is never simple. - Publishers Website

I really enjoyed this thriller. This is Robert’s 2nd book, I haven’t had the opportunity to read his first.  If it is anything like this novel I am in for a treat.  Well written, deeply plotted to have you thinking about who really did it, will have you turning the pages as fast as you can read, so that you can learn who did it, why, and the secrets that are hidden inside the Wyler family.  Brilliant from the first page.

Stay tuned after this review of Robert’s newest book, as I got to do a Q and A with him recently during his ultra busy full-time law practice, his writing this book, the publicity for it, and the many other activities that he does.  I swear I don’t honestly know where he finds the time!

Today, just happens to be release day !! So go out and get the book !

Robert’s Website – Robert on Twitter - Robert on Facebook -Read the First Chapter - Follow Simon and Schuster on Foursquare

#35 – Altar of Bones – Philip Carter

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“They didn’t have to kill him…He never drank from the altar of bones.”

Cryptic dying words from a murdered homeless woman in present day San Francisco unlock a decades-buried secret that changed history. Now a pair of ruthless assassins are sent to cut the few living “loose ends.” And a young, resourceful woman on the run encounters a determined man with his own connected past and vengeful agenda.

Forced to partner for survival and answers, a fast-paced and deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, taking them across the globe from the winding streets of Paris to the faded palaces of Budapest to the frozen lakes of Mongolia…where destiny, passion, and further betrayal await them.

The Altar of Bones has it all: The Russian mob. KGB spies. Presidential assassination. A doomed Hollywood legend. Deathbed confessions. Corrosive power. Shattered families. Guardians of an ancient religious icon housing a secret others will kill to possess. The dark promise of immortality. And it delivers on its ambitious premise to leave you stunned and breathless at the end. - Publishers Website

What a great book! If you are a fan of the thriller/action/adventure genre, then you will have absolutely no problem devouring this book.  Written under a pseudonym of Philip Carter, no one seems to know the authors real name.  This really bugged me, and kind of still does.  You may have to read a bit slowly if you can, this book has so many different plot twists and turns that does un equivocally makes the novel better and more exciting for sure.  Of course there is the exotic locations around the world.

I cannot say enough about this book, really, really good!  This would be perfect as a summer read for sure.  You know on the beach, enjoying the rays, and the scenery of course.  I did receive this book from Simon and Schuster UK, so thanks to them for sending it to me.  The UK launch of the book is expected May 26, 2011.  Whereas, the books has already been published here in Canada as well as the US.

 

 

#31 – Inside of a Dog – What Dogs See, Smell, and Know – Alexandra Horowitz

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The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human.

Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What’s it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans, or even the passage of time? How does a tiny dog manage to play successfully with a Great Dane? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a fluorescent light? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased? What’s it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, amidst the smells of the sidewalk, gazing at our ankles or knees?

Inside of a Dog explains these things and much more. The answers can be surprising—once we set aside our natural inclination to anthropomorphize dogs. Inside of a Dog also contains up-to-the-minute research—on dogs’ detection of disease, the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our attention—that Horowitz puts into useful context. Although not a formal training guide, Inside of a Dog has practical application for dog lovers interested in understanding why their dogs do what they do. With a light touch and the weight of science behind her, Alexandra Horowitz examines the animal we think we know best but may actually understand the least. This book is as close as you can get to knowing about dogs without being a dog yourself. - Publishers Website

I was really looking forward to this book. However, it left me feeling I wasn’t educated enough to be able to read it much less understand it properly.  There are interesting insights into how a dog evolved from wolves, to their present state.  From day-to-day things dogs do, with introspection as to why they do it and when.  Like I mentioned before, it would be much more understood if the books vernacular was toned down, so that all dog lovers would be able to appreciate the book.

Alexandra’s Website

#29 – Bird Cloud – Annie Proulx

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“Bird Cloud” is the name Annie Proulx gave to 640 acres of Wyoming wetlands and prairie and four-hundred-foot cliffs plunging down to the North Platte River. On the day she first visited, a cloud in the shape of a bird hung in the evening sky.Proulx also saw pelicans, bald eagles, golden eagles, great blue herons, ravens, scores of bluebirds, harriers, kestrels, elk, deer and a dozen antelope.

She fell in love with the land, then owned by the Nature Conservancy, and she knew what she wanted to build on it—a house in harmony with her work, her appetites and her character, a library surrounded by bedrooms and a kitchen.

Proulx’s first work of nonfiction in more than twenty years, Bird Cloud is the story of designing and constructing that house—with its solar panels, Japanese soak tub, concrete floor and elk horn handles on kitchen cabinets.

It is also an enthralling natural history and archaeology of the region—inhabited for millennia by Ute, Arapaho and Shoshone Indians— and a family history, going back to nineteenth-century Mississippi riverboat captains and Canadian settlers.

Proulx, a writer with extraordinary powers of observation and compassion, here turns her lens on herself. We understand how she came to be living in a house surrounded by wilderness, with shelves for thousands of books and long worktables on which to heap manuscripts, research materials and maps, and how she came to be one of the great American writers of her time. Bird Cloud is magnificent. – Publishers Website

I was inquisitive about this memoir.  I looked forward to reading it.  I was disappointed in some of the parts of it, for the most part, everyone has problems upon problems when building from scratch.  Not to mention that Annie builds in the middle of nowhere is her big problem, the first she has written in over 20 years.  I did however, love her descriptions of the area where  she chose to build.  The nature, the wildlife, the history behind the area.  I believe that possibly if she just focused on that part it would have been a more well received book.  I may sound a bit ticked off about the personal parts of the memoir, it is because everyone has these sorts of problems when they are dealing with contractors, and people in general.  Not that I hated the book, like I mentioned earlier I loved the descriptions of the area as well as the history, but her ranting turned me off.

Read an excerpt

 

#25 – Wither – Chemical Garden Trilogy – Lauren DeStefano

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By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape–before her time runs out? – Publishers Website

I was really skeptical about this book, but as I started reading it, I quite enjoyed it.  Imagine your life ending at 20 or 25 for a male.  What would you do knowing that you had a specific date of dying? What would you try to accomplish? Would you wallow in your sorrows or would you do everything you can with the time you had left?  But, in this first book of three Rhine one of the polygamous wives is on a search for her brother.  She needs to find a way out, but then she makes friends with the other wives as well as the staff.  Is she really going to risk it all to search or will she stay and live out the rest of her remaining years?

I am so looking forward to the rest of the 2 books that will be available hopefully soon, what about you?

Wither will be published and available in your favorite book store on March 22, 2011.

Read an Excerpt

Lauren’s Blog – Website – Twitter

#24- The Memory Palace – Mira Bartok

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” People have abandoned their loved ones for much less than you’ve been through,” Mira Bartok is told at her mother’s memorial service.

It is a poignant observation about the relationship between Mira, her sister, and their mentally ill mother. Before she was struck with schizophrenia at the age of nineteen, beautiful piano protege Norma Herr had been the most vibrant personality in the room. She loved her daughters and did her best to raise them well, but as her mental state deteriorated, Norma spoke less about Chopin and more about Nazis and her fear that her daughters would be kidnapped, murdered, or raped.

When the girls left for college, the harassment escalated—Norma called them obsessively, appeared at their apartments or jobs, threatened to kill herself if they did not return home. After a traumatic encounter, Mira and her sister were left with no choice but to change their names and sever all contact with Norma in order to stay safe. But while Mira pursued her career as an artist—exploring the ancient romance of Florence, the eerie mysticism of northern Norway, and the raw desert of Israel—the haunting memories of her mother were never far away.

Then one day, Mira’s life changed forever after a debilitating car accident. As she struggled to recover from a traumatic brain injury, she was confronted with a need to recontextualize her life—she had to relearn how to paint, read, and interact with the outside world. In her search for a way back to her lost self, Mira reached out to the homeless shelter where she believed her mother was living and discovered that Norma was dying.

Mira and her sister traveled to Cleveland, where they shared an extraordinary reconciliation with their mother that none of them had thought possible. At the hospital, Mira discovered a set of keys that opened a storage unit Norma had been keeping for seventeen years. Filled with family photos, childhood toys, and ephemera from Norma’s life, the storage unit brought back a flood of previous memories that Mira had thought were lost to her forever. - Publishers Website

I really enjoyed this memoir.  From the beginnings of the family already in chaos to the re-emergence of their Mother as she is dying, it was a poignant reminder that even though they all have been through so much, the ties that bind a family together that once were thought to be broken forever, they still bind no matter the circumstances.  The girls finally let their guards down to be able to understand their Mother as if they never have before.  Poignant, heart-breaking, debilitating, this memoir maybe will have you re examining your own relationships with family or friends, or possibly maybe your own life.

Browse Inside the Book

Reading Group Guide

#3 – Left Neglected – Lisa Genova

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Sarah Nickerson is like any other career-driven supermom in Welmont, the affluent Boston suburb where she leads a hectic but charmed life with her husband Bob, faithful nanny, and three children—Lucy, Charlie, and nine-month-old Linus.

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny—her new, true life—may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice. – Publisher’s Website

I loved this book probably just as much as I loved Still Alice.  She writes from the heart, incorporating everything and then some of what the main character and the family are experiencing.  With her experience in the field of Neuroscience, she adds it with a flair for what someone would be able to understand without all of the heavy scientific jargon that most won’t understand.

Just as important is the fact that we shouldn’t use any kind of devices while driving, it does have severe consequences for not just that person using them, but for family members, and others on the road.  We hear so much nowadays of accidents happening because people have been using their cell phones, pda’s and other devices while driving.

Stay tuned for a Q and A I have done with Lisa, it will be posted soon !

Simon and Schuster

Lisa’s Website Fan her on Facebook

Oprah’s Pledge – No Phone Zone Pledge

# 2 – The Dressmaker – Posie Graeme-Evans

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Ellen Gowan is the only surviving child of a scholarly village minister and a charming girl disowned by her family when she married for love. Growing up in rural Norfolk, Ellen’s childhood was poor but blessed with affection.

Resilience, spirit, and one great talent will carry her far from such humble beginnings. In time, she will become the witty, celebrated, and very beautiful Madame Ellen, dressmaker to the nobility of England, the Great Six Hundred.

Yet Ellen has secrets. At fifteen she falls for Raoul de Valentin, the dangerous descendant of French aristocrats. Raoul marries Ellen for her brilliance as a designer but abandons his wife when she becomes pregnant. Determined that she and her daughter will survive, Ellen begins her long climb to success. Toiling first in a clothing sweat shop, she later opens her own salon in fashionable Berkeley Square though she tells the world – and her daughter – she’s a widow.

One single dress, a ballgown created for the enigmatic Countess of Hawksmoor, the leader of London society, transforms Ellen’s fortunes, and as the years pass, business thrives. But then Raoul de Valentin returns and threatens to destroy all that Ellen has achieved. - Publishers Website

I really enjoyed this book.  Not because it was chick lit, but because it showed the ingenuity and drive of a woman who had nothing become something of her self against all odds, with a child and help from the family she never knew she had.  Then to have her most wanted dream come true – love.

Simon and Schuster / Atria Books

Browse Inside

Reading Group Guide

 

Behemoth – Scott Westerfield

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ALL RIGHT !!  Deryn and Alek are back.

From Deryn impersonating a boy to realize her dream to be a mid-shipman, she/he are in for the ride / adventure of their lives.

Alek, as well is keeping a few secrets, mainly who he really is, but you will learn more about Alek, along with a few more characters amongst all of the other ” Bum Rags” that Deryn and Alek encounter on their fast paced adventures.

As with Leviathan, Scott has gone gangbusters with non stop action and adventure into this alternative historical account of a world that could very well resemble different places around the world.  He does explain in more detail at the end of this book.

The fast paced action/ adventure/ thriller of this whole other world will have you laughing out loud at the things that Deryn says or waiting ever so patiently (right) for what will happen next.  The detail, along with the fantastic art work done by Keith Thompson will have you entrenched until the last page is read and you want to know what happens in the third and final book of the series.

For all of the young readers eagerly anticipating this book, they certainly will not be disappointed…the adults won’t be disappointed either.

I cannot wait for the third and final installment.  I wish I could get my hands on it now, instead of sometime NEXT YEAR!

Simon and Schuster

Read an Excerpt

The Distant Hours – Kate Morton

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Edie works for a small publishing house in London.  After breaking up with her boyfriend and needing a new place to move into, for the meantime, her partner at work offers her his sofa until she can find a better option.

As she is at her parents house for those obligatory sunday dinners, she doesn;t tell her parents right away that she has broken up with her boyfriend and needs a new apartment.  Her mother receives a letter that was lost long ago from 1941, when she was sent to the countryside as the war started.

Meredith was staying at Milderhurst Castle, home of the author of “Mud Men” and his three daughters.  Edie loved the book as a child, who has had a long time obsession with the book.  As she is driving back from a meeting, she comes across Milderhurst Castle on her way back to London.  Memories come back to her as she sees the gates.

As present day gives way to the past, Edie makes her way to the castle, although, not in its former glory for a tour.  She has no idea what secrets are inside, the suffering all of them who live at the castle have gone through.  But as she is going through the castle itself, she can hear voices, conversations from long ago, although, the sisters now quite old say it is part of the castle, the history, all of it.

There are secrets that are about to merge the past with the present, and possibly finally laid to rest.

This is where Edie unravels her Mother’s past – her passion for writing, the things she once adored, now a distant memory, her life taken another path.

The truth lies in the distant hours, some by circumstance, haunted by memories will have you enthralled from the beginning right through to the end.

Simon and Schuster – Atria

Read an Excerpt

Kate’s Website

Crescendo – Becca Fitzpatrick

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Are YOU ready ?!? I know I was, and Crescendo does NOT disappoint in the least!

We left Nora in the gym of her school at the end of Hush, Hush, well I don’t have to tell you how or why or any of it right? You have already gasped, been frightened down to your toes about whether Nora is saved right?

Ok, now that we are all on the same page, this time Nora is having thoughts about why and how her father really died.

Then there is that whole thing about her guardian angel Patch and her in a relationship with him which, really shouldn’t be happening, but it is and Nora is so in love with Patch it makes her sick when she isn’t around him.  Patch is hiding his feelings, as we all probably know by now that all or most guys do that so they aren’t being too girly with all that mushy stuff right?

So, anyways, just a bit off topic here, but really, I’m getting to the point.  She has the same best friend in the world, the same bullies at high school especially one Marcie Millar that has always does one thing or another to totally make Nora thinking of doing mean and nasty things back.  There is really a hidden meaning to all of this hated and angst between the two that Nora wasn’t aware of until now.

So, as the story goes as fast as I am reading and pages are literally flying out of the book (they really did at the end).

Her relationship with Patch reaches a point where something she never imagined happens, she knows what she feels, but what she doesn’t know that Patch is keeping from her may well hurt her in the end as well, even as he really wants to tell her how he really feels about her.

There are a few new characters that are introduced into the mix -  Patch’s best friend who is also one of those hunky, gorgeous angels so to speak, then there is a boy who moved back that Nora used to know who has major problems of his own.  Once Nora is introduced into all of this, all of the pieces fall into place about her father’s murder, her background in all of this, and a few other tidbits that will have you flipping the pages as fast or maybe even faster than you can read to the end where it all comes to a head one way or another.

Breathe…

Will Nora found out the real truth behind how she feels? the things that are being kept from her? As well as all of the other things she doesn’t quite know everything about right now to make her see the full picture?  Trust me, if you thought the end to Hush, Hush was spectacular, wait until you get to the end of this one…you will be craving more.

Did I happen to mention that there will be a THIRD book? Yep, that’s right ! More Nora and Patch !!

Simon and Schuster

Grab the reading group guide

Read an Excerpt

If you missed my review of Hush, Hush it can be found here

 

The Red Queen – Philippa Gregory

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I was so excited when I received a copy of the 2nd installment of the Cousins War by Philippa Gregory in the mail.

The previous and first book The White Queen which was published last year was about Elizabeth Woodville.

The Red Queen is about the other queen – Margaret Beaufort, who wanted to be martyr of sorts like Joan of Arc growing up, a nun in the house of God, but all of that was changed forever as her life took a surprising turn.

At the age of 13, she is married off to a man twice her age, widowed after conceiving an heir with him.  The son, who after a year old is raised to become royalty.  She schemes and plots almost effortlessly for her son to become the rightful heir and King of England.

Through the schemes and plotting against the White Queen, the rumours of black magic, wars, and being widowed a second time, Margaret  is still as ruthless as she always has been, but, even more so when she meets and marries Lord Stanley who also has plans of his own to also align with Margaret’s.

Gambling everything she has, even with her son’s life on the line as he lies in exile on this one opportunity, will it work?!?

Conspiracy, passion and the cold-hearted ambition of a woman whose dreams of being what she wanted were shattered, only to be even more determined for her sons dreams to be recognized given the pride that comes from them and the mistakes in the past that have nearly cost them the throne.

Simon and Schuster

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Philippa’s Website

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The Madonnas of Echo Park – Brando Skyhorse

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Echo Park, Los Angeles, California.  A place where immigrants melt into the population who are legal and not so legal who stand on the street corners waiting for work, when it does appear it is usually – cooking, cleaning, serving, and construction.

Without losing their identity while at the same time trying to capture their piece of the American Dream.

This is the story of Aurora, Felicia, her mom, A Day labourer, a religious hypocrite, and a bus driver.

All of these people meet one another during their times of crisis, their lives in upheaval, or on their way to another chapter of their lives.  Revelations, times of debating moralityvs. illegal status, violence and cultural ego’s divide each other.

An interesting look at a populated area that is changing with the times.  People are moving away to different, more affluent areas, other cultures are moving into the neighbourhood and changing the landscape.  What was once a latino neighbourhood is now multi-cultural, and things change within the confines of the neighbourhood.

Aurora in the end will finally discover her own history by encountering many if not all of these people, like puzzle pieces.  Once all of the pieces are collected, she will discover

The land that belongs to us again.

Simon and Schuster

Browse Inside

Reading Group Guide

White Cat – Holly Black

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From the Publisher’s Website:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they’re all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn’t got the magic touch, so he’s an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He’s noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he’s part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

My Thoughts: I read the book up until page 104-105 and decided that this wasn’t going to be a book for me.  It did sound good, but for me the whole premise of having so-called “workers” that had magical powers who in reality were just a bunch of “con artists” didn’t really make sense to me.  I felt the book was tiring, it wasn’t keeping me interested, but decided to give it that best chance I could.  In the end I gave it the good fight, I wanted to like it, but, I didn’t.  Maybe it will be different for you.

Simon and Schuster – McElderry Books

The Forgotten Garden – Kate Morton

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It is 1913 where a 5-year-old girl is abandoned on a ship travelling from England to Australia.  Her small suitcase is the only piece of her past that she has left.  That, and a beautiful book of fairy tales.

The dock master takes her home with him thinking that she will be claimed.  As the years go by, she is taken in by the dock master and his family.  As time goes on, she is part of the family, not knowing that she has a past that no one even herself knows about.  Until she turns 21, her father tells her the story of how she was found, she is none the less shocked, having the feeling she doesn’t know who she is, or thought she was rebels against her family, friends, and fiancée to find who she is and most importantly where she came from.

Years later, her quest to find her real identity brings her to the Cornish coast of England.  A manor that holds many secrets, yields more questions than answers.  Determined to find out, she must return to Australia first.  But plans are dashed, her daughter leaves her grand-daughter with her as she goes on her own quest.  The questions still remain, the urge subsides, then it is too late to return to England – she is ill with cancer.

After Nell’s death, her granddaughter comes across a notebook which she reads and realizes that she must continue the search to find out who her grandmother really was.  She feels as thought she needs to do it, not only for herself, but her grandmother as well.

This is not only a journey of self, one of mystery, one of long-lost secrets, intriguing secrets that once would ruin a families reputation, and of stance in the community.  A cabin by the sea, a mysterious garden that will hold more than just secrets…

I found that this was the perfect book for those who used to read fairy tales as a young child.   it is one of those books if you liked fairy tales as a youngster, this one has many twists and turns.   The mysteriousness of the plot, what is hidden, what is revealed.  I loved the intrigue behind the story, the characters ( I really despised one of them, you will see what I mean in the book if you read it) what will come of the secrets when revealed, will it change how people feel, will it change them forever?

Simon and Shuster – Atria

Reading Group Guide

Kate’s Website

Eternal On The Water – Joseph Monninger

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What a breathtaking novel.

Have you ever just went on with what you were doing concentrating on that one task when all of a sudden you look around and focus in on one person of the opposite sex that you cannot take you eyes off of, like it will be the last thing that depends on the rest of your life?

Cobb was doing exactly that, minding his own business traveling to a river when he noticed Mary.  Not just any girl, as he found out later.  He found the love of his life.

Cobb is taking a short sabbatical from his teaching job at a prestigious private school to do two things.  Kayak the river, and follow the same route that Thoreau once did.  He is writing a paper on him.  He doesn’t expect anything that will change his life forever like it does this trip.

The novel starts as Cobb is being questioned by police after a kayak is found and his wife’s body is found not far from it.  The story starts as just about as ugly as it could get, being questioned by police about the accident that your wife was found dead from.  But this is far from the story.

His wife has a debilitating disease….

As Cobb talks about his whirlwind romance to one of the Rangers that is assisting in the investigation, you are lead as he leads the ranger into a deep and breadth of this love that not many experience in their lifetimes.  A love that was instantaneous, deep, powerful, demanding, happening so fast, that the planets with all of their separate actions were all in alignment at that one moment where sparks flew, where these two people were destined to meet at the beginning of a river trip separately, and at the end of it starting a new life together at the end of it.

The book ask some important questions, in between the universe all in alignment. If by some chance, you had found the love of your life, would it matter if they knew or if you knew that they were to become afflicted with a life threatening disease?  Would you cut your losses then, or would you stand by that person no matter what it took – money, faith, determination, no matter what the consequence? Would you want to know that they may have or not have this life threatening disease such as Huntington’s or ALS that will slowly take away everything that you can do today within a matter of years to leave you not even being able to think or do much for yourself?

Heartbreaking, emotional, full of that perfect life, even if it means giving something up that was aligned by the planets and the stars, by destiny if you will, will have you crying for them but also have you thinking about your own life.  Full of the emotional breadth and ripples as the river moves with its current.

Just Brilliant.

Simon and Schuster

Joseph’s Website

Reading Group Guide

Falling Apart In One Piece: An Optimist’s Journey Through The Hell of Divorce – Stacey Morrison

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I do not usually read and review these kind of book I try to shy away from them since I have experienced this as well; or ones that tell of painful, hurtful life events such as divorce.  But, this is one I received, I prejudged it, thinking oh here we go when I shouldn’t have.

I was very pleasantly surprised.

Stacey has been together with her husband for the last 13 years.

All of a sudden one day, he says it is over like that.  Can you say huh? What just hit me in the back of the head?!?!  Shock and awe isn’t the only thing I thought, or you would think.

This is Stacey’s personal story through the hell of separation, divorce, and then some…

As she tells you the story of who she is (Editor in Chief) of Redbook; with one amazing resume.  Not only did she conquer her professional dreams, she’s conquered the grief, the heartbreak, among other incredible odds ( A house that will not stop filling up with water) and raising her son just about on her own from when he was just a few months old.

Now, you would think that all of this would have made her say uncle, (she did so much want to give in, but she felt it and think it) but what she shows us is that if you have the determination, the zeal, and the wherewithal, even in the craziness that happens; you can get through it and begin to live again.

We have all heard or maybe experienced the same emotions and experiences (separation / divorce), I know I did.  She gives really great advice for anyone that is going through their own hell of divorce.

At times, laugh out loud funny to gut wrenching, laying on the floor, bringing tears to your eyes.  Stacey had to make sense of what went wrong, what she was responsible for, begin her life again as a divorced, single mom of a son.

Just totally written from the heart, with smarts, don’t give up, but I really want to give up attitude that blossomed into a confident person once again.

Simon and Schuster

Almost Home – Pam Jenoff

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Jordan works for the Department of Justice when all of a sudden she wants to move back to London, England.  Everyone who works with her wonders why all of a sudden this change of decision, since she has declined other transfers in the past and most recently last week.

As she steps off the plane, drops off her bag, and meets with her boss who she has had in the past, she is off to one of her old friends who she moved for.  Her friend has MS.

Later on that night at the US Ambassadors residence, she catches a glimpse of someone from her past.  The unmistakable blonde hair.  Her heart skips a beat, she runs from the residence trying to see him, but he is gone.  And so is the conversation she was starting to have with the Ambassador and his wife.

The blonde hair brings back memories of her past 10 years ago when she was here attending Cambridge University.  The memories flood her mind as well as her heart.  The love of her life tragically killed, the good times, the rowing on the Thames – all of it in one moment.  She thought she had buried them a long time ago.

But why was Chris trying to contact her, how did he know she was coming?

With Jordan’s current high importance assignment at work and the mysterious case of drowning of her boyfriend all of those years ago wasn’t as it seemed.  Chris has found evidence that he was killed – no water in his lungs to be found.  With the two cases pulling at her at once, her friend she came for.  She is in for a lot of work.

As she is running around town, with clues, and people either disappearing or coming up dead.  There is more to both cases.  Something nagging her about both.  Could they be connected? How could they be?

With the political intrigue, the personal feelings that affect both, the mysteries that are coming up, not to mention bombings, deaths that happen all to soon, give this book the feel of a fast paced international thriller that will appeal to both men and women.

The premise and background are done impeccably that would you swearing that this could be happening anywhere in the world in the present time is concise and accurate right down to the streets of London and beyond.

With the many twists and turns, twisting and turning at every minute, you will be unable to put it down for any length of time, until you are satisfied who was caught, how they are connected.

A definite page turner !

I will be posting a Q and A I recently had with Pam about the book tomorrow, so stay tuned !

Simon and Schuster / Washington Square Press

The Kitchen House – Kathleen Grissom

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19th Century America, where slavery is still as big as ever.  A small irish girl recently orphaned comes off a boat destined to live as a slave on a tobacco plantation.

Taken in by a well to do family, the small irish girl lives with the black people who serve the owners.  She lives between 2 worlds – the big house where she works, the owner often away and his wife addicted to laudanum, who spends her days in her room despondent.

As the days turn into months and years; Lavinia grows to love her adopted family – working together, eating and sharing their lives.  With Belle teaching her the ropes, she knows there are secrets, things that aren’t talked about openly, but may know the past, and the actions of the owner; but say nothing.

As time goes on, the family changes – the owner dies, the mistress is not herself, even with frequent doses of opium.  Set off for Williamsburg, Lavinia begins her new adventure, she only wants to be back at Tall Oakes, be with her family, the ones that she loves and who love her back.

She ends up marrying the Colonel’s son Marshall.  As he takes over the plantation, he beings to drink, things start to fall apart, changing for the worse.

As Lavinia finds herself with child, she senses a changes in Marshall for the worse.  Drinking and raping women servants.

Outraged, but not being able to do or say anything about it, she herself takes to opium as a way to be able to deal with all that is going on around her.  Not realizing that by doing this, she becomes addicted, and is just as out of it as her mother in law is.

With all the situations that come to play in the novel, The Kitchen House is one of those stories you need to read, even though the situations may have very well happened in that time, it talks about the struggles on both sides whether you were white or black.  The sacrifices that were made, the amount of love these people had for one another, tells the true tale of the human heart no matter the colour of your skin.

The terrifying situations that happened, show us how determined that they were, of the human spirit, how much we can endure, if we only set our mind to it.

Simon and Schuster / Touchstone

Kathleen’s Website

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Reading Group Guide

The Lute Player – Norah Lofts

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I had received this book before Christmas, and recently had just gotten around to reading it.  I just couldn’t for the life of me get into it.  I read about 100 pages in and decided to give up after contemplating for a day or two if I should give it up or not.  But I did give it up.

So, here is the publishers description of the book.  Possibly you will enjoy it more than I did.

One of the most renowned figures in medieval history, Richard the Lionhearted, inspired by a vision of the Holy Land, led his knights onto the battlefields of the Third Crusade. During the years of fighting and intrigue, Richard’s life was intertwined with the lives of two strong, vibrant, and drastically different women who loved him — Berengaria, princess of Navarre, and his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. While his marriage to Berengaria was ill-fated, Eleanor loved her son with a frantic, possessive pride. But it is Blondel, the king’s lute player, who here steps forward from the shadows to tell this tale of romance, war, and betrayal.

In her trademark style, Norah Lofts paints a complex and human portrait of a legendary king.

Surprisingly enough, Norah first published this back in 1951.

Simon and Schuster – Touchstone

Gone – Lisa McMann

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To tell the truth, I had to borrow the first book in the trilogy to be able to do this review.  So, this will be a refresher of the first 2 books and then my last thoughts.

Janine has been dreaming other peoples dreams since she was 8 years old.  Unknown to her, she is a dream catcher.  At first Janine was so afraid of what was happening to her, she thought she was crazy, but then noticed that when her classmates slept or was near a person who was dreaming she would dream the same dreams they would be having.

As time passes, she gets to know a boy who lives near her Caleb.  He was once the boy who was always in scraggly clothes, never seemed to fit in with anyone, and kept to himself.  One day, where Janine hears rumours about a new boy in the school.  It isn’t who anyone imagined – Caleb.

Once Janine and Caleb become friends there is a connection.  In fact, there was always one that has now frown into something else – quirky, personally, and professionally.  She begins to work with Caleb doing undercover work to bring down criminals in the town they live in.

Now, In Gone, Janine and Caleb are still together as a couple, working cases.  There is one thing different, remember the green notebook that she was uneasy with reading?  Well, she finally reads it she is shocked with what she finds.  Not only unexpected, but quite shocking.

Janine also finds out something else that is even more shocking.  Her mother is found outside of the house yelling, crying, something about someone in the hospital from her past…

Will Janine make the decisions that are right for her, or for all the people involved?

In my honest opinion, I had troubles with the first book Wake.  Since these books are intended for 14 yr old girls, I found a fair amount of sexual references that was quite shocking to me.  I did not feel good about it at all.  The 2nd book Fade was a bit better, with more of the issues at the fore front.  Still a bit on the heavy side for this age group.

In Gone, it was a strong book that stands up better than the first two in the trilogy.  There were some strong, dark situations that she had to make decisions for the rest of her life.

All in all I would have to say that I would pass on all three.

Lisa’s Website

Simon and Schuster / Simon Pulse