Celebrate a Classics Giveaway

I hope everyone had a great week. I know some of you had snow, some more than others. Last night we had our first snow in Connecticut and it is now looking like Christmas and the holidays. I just love the first fallen snow when the stillness settles on everything, everyone and we pause. Good luck on the two holiday raffles I have for this month, and check back, because I may add one more. Tis the season!!!
Happy hustle and bustle time...remember its the season not one day. Don't let is wear you down. Try to relax and enjoy what it is intended to be...a season of giving and love.

As a celebration of the holidays I am holding two raffles one is called:

A Classics Holiday Giveaway

and the books to be raffled off are:
Northanger Abbey...Jane Austen....Vintage
Mansfield Park.....Jane Austen....Vintage
Dracula............Bram Stoker....Capuchin
The Hound of
the Baskervilles...Arthur Conan Doyle..Capuchin

Rules: Each week you comment on my blog you will receive a chance to enter. If I have posted more than once during the week, each time you comment to a different day's topic you have another chance. The winner will be chosen on December 28th as a year end thank you. In the comment, please tell me your book preference if chosen. Good Luck!

Thanks to Independent Publishers Group for providing the copies of these classic books for the raffle. (These paperbacks are not ARCS, but newly published editions).

Political Fever Giveaway

The second raffle is for a copy of GIANTS, by John Stauffer, the parallel lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. This book is awesome and if you are into history, you will definitely want to enter this raffle. Thanks to Hachette Book Group for this hardcover first edition copy.

Rules: Each week you comment on my blog you will receive a chance to enter. If I have posted more than once during the week, each time you comment to a different day's topic you have another chance. The winner will be chosen on December 28th as a year end thank you. Good luck.

Here is a review of an historical action adventure that will keep you on the edge. A great holiday read to enjoy.

Red Sky in Morning

RED SKY IN MORNING: A Novel of World War II, Patrick Culhane, William Morrow, 2008, $24.95/C$26.95,hb, 338pp, 978006082555

(published in Historical Novels Review, Nov. 08)

During World War II, Ensign Peter Maxwell is preparing himself for amphibious landing duty overseas. However, his orders are changed and he is told to report to the U. S. Naval Training Station in San Diego for duty as a choir director and trainer. While there, he and three of his buddies form a quartet called the Fantail Four and become the best of friends. When Peter decides he isn’t doing enough in the war, he seeks a ship looking for officers. He finds a posting for a ship needing four officers, quite rare. He persuades his buddies to sign-on with him. Once granted transfers, they discover that the Liberty Hill Victory, is an ammunitions ship with a crew of unskilled and in some cases illiterate African American sailors. The captain of the ship is a monomaniac racial bigot who has only disdain and loathing for his crew. Peter knows the crew’s survival will depend on cooperation, communication and camaraderie. Sometime before shipping out, Peter takes his horn to an all black club where he meets Sarge, an ex-detective. Sarge and Peter form a friendship that night that will transcend race. They are destined to meet in the future aboard the Liberty, when a body is discovered and Peter asks Sarge for help. Is it murder?


I was pleased to see the true story of the Port Chicago explosion included in this novel. An often overlooked horrific accident, including the event adds dramatic suspense and tension. Patrick Culhane based his story on the real ship, USS Red Oak Victory. He points out that the language and social themes in the novel are reflective of the period. This is a well thought out and realistic story of life aboard a naval vessel, during military segregation. Highly recommended.