Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays-June 29, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read. Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am reading a special book right now, a memoir about the relationship between an eagle named Freedom and the volunteer who helps to rehabilitate her. The bond formed became a journey of healing for both of them. The book is: An Eagle Named Freedom, My True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, by Jeff Guidry

Disclosure: I received this book as an Early Reviewer choice from Library Thing.

"She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back(I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment.(page 5)"



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Mailbox Monday-June 28, 2010

As most of you know Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Thank you once again Marcia for hosting this weekly event. :)
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.








Purchases in my mailbox;

The Mistmantle Chronicles-Urchin of the Riding Stars
, by M. I. McAllister
The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende
The Gift of Rain, by Tan Twan Eng
Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffennegger



Arcs received from publishes in my mailbox:

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams, by Rhonda Hayter
Dracula in Love, by Karen Essex
The King's Mistress, by Emma Campion
Power of a Woman, Memoirs of a Turbulent Life: Eleanor of Aquitaine, by Robert Fripp



Sunday, June 27, 2010

Review-A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer


A FIERCE RADIANCE
by Lauren Belfer
Harper/Harper Collins Publishers
$25.99/$33.99 Can; 544 pages
ISBN 13 : 9780061252518
On Sale: 6/15/2010


Taken for granted now, it is hard to fathom that prior to WWII a person could die from a minor scratch just as easily as pneumonia and other staphylococcal bacterium. During the war, soldiers were seriously wounded in mass numbers often recovering from wounds yet later died from infection. The government saw penicillin as a critical weapon of war. By saving lives lost from infection, troops could be returned to the war to fight again.

The government recruited pharmaceutical companies like Merck and Pfizer among others to focus all research on the development, production, clinical trials and ultimately the administration of penicillin. To stem competition the government disallowed a patent on penicillin. However, these same companies worked furiously to develop alternate patentable antibiotics that would prove more lucrative.

A Fierce Radiance is an absorbing fictional account of this momentous, life changing scientific discovery that became the medical breakthrough of the decade. The story takes place just after Pearl Harbor in New York City, 1941. Claire Shipley is a famous photojournalist who works for Life magazine. Her assignment is to cover the story of the miracle drug penicillin as it is administered and tested on a dying patient at the Rockefeller Institute. Claire is a witness to the patient’s recovery. The drug works! Unfortunately, without sufficient supply on hand, the patient relapses and dies. Deemed by her boss, Henry Luce, magazine mogul and husband of Clare Booth Luce as too depressing, too controversial her story never will not run.

What follows is the sudden violent death of the beautiful young assiduous mycologist, Tia Stanton, sister of Claire’s new boyfriend Jamie. Tia’s impressive research was startling one formula showed positive results with hopeful promise.
Claire’s life becomes the lens and conduit for Belfer’s compelling story.

Her daughter Emily died very young, a victim of illness that had penicillin been around would have saved her. Divorced, she now lives with her son Charlie. Her father, Edward Rutherford, is a lonely millionaire, estranged for years and absent from her childhood. Recently he has pursued a father-daughter relationship they never had.

Rutherford learns about the new miracle drug and its healing possibilities. He invests his money in a new pharmaceutical company and joins the penicillin race. When Jamie Stanton accuses Rutherford of killing his sister Tia, Claire’s world appears to collapse.

A Fierce Radiance
takes you back to the exciting age of discovery and the highly charged days during World War II when the race to win the war was in everyone’s hearts. Belfer succeeds in recreating the fury of this historical period with astute memoir like details. Claire stands out as a resilient character who will be remembered for her strength, faith and ability to forgive. A memorable impressively written story with timely relevance.


Disclosure: This copy of A Fierce Radiance was sent to me by the publisher, Harper Collins.

Sunday Salon-June 27, 2010

The Sunday Salon.com
Webster is my main concern today as he is still not doing well. Thanks for all your well wishes and prayers. It helps more than you know. I can't really leave him because he needs help on stairs and getting up and down. I don't think the steroids are helping. He doesn't seem better to me and stresses too much. I am hopeful and praying this works.

Since I will be home, I will be reading a bit.

I started reading The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende. I picked up my copy of this book at a Scholastic Book Warehouse sale. The publisher is Firdbird (Penguin), 2005. The copyright is 1979 so I'm surprised I never heard of this book. It is a fantasy, and from what I can tell so far...a very good one.

From the back cover:
Bastian Balthazar Bux is shy, awkward, and certainly not heroic. His only escape is reading books. When Bastian happens upon an old book called The Neverending Story, he's swept into the magical world of Fantastica-so much that he finds he has actually become a character in the story! And when he realizes that this mysteriously enchanted world is in great danger, he also discovers that he has been the one chosen to save it. Can Bastian overcome the barrier between reality and his imagination in order to save Fantastica?

So far, I really like the writing-it draws me in. Has anyone read this? If so, let me know what you think.

This week I finished A Fierce Radiance, by Lauren Belfer. Don't miss this marvelous historical fiction medical mystery. I've posted my review separately.

I also started reading:

-A memoir from Early Reviewers called, An Eagle Named Freedom: My True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Jeff Guidry.

Lastly, I need to finish a review for Original Sins, by Peg Kingman. This will be published before I post it to my blog so I can only tell you...it is super! It is about slavery and freedom-intricate story line. Really remarkable second novel. Her first novel Not Yet Drown'd was set in Scotland and India. Did anyone read it?

Have a super Sunday and enjoy whatever you are reading.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Webster Needs Good Thoughts

Webster, my eldest adopted ex-racer is still having a difficult time. His latest visit to the vet yesterday was not easy. After viewing x-rays of his hips, legs and spine there has been degeneration. He has lost weight which concerns me, although he eats like he always has, inhaling his food. The vet has decided to try some heavy duty steroids along with pain meds to try and see if it will get him walking again. I'm afraid of the alternative, as the vet says should he not respond there isn't much else to do.

Please send white healing light for my fur-boy Webster. As I watch him sleeping, I'm hoping this medicine will make him better soon.

Review-Bloodroot, by Amy Greene

BLOODROOT
Amy Greene, Alfred A. Knopf, Dutton, March 2008, $25.95,HC,464pp, 978-0-525-95054-7.

Byrdie Lamb was said to be one of those witches from Chickweed Holler, one who as they say had “the touch”. She gave birth to five children and buried four. Her last child Clio has a wandering, adventurous spirit and is not happy staying at home with Byrdie, so it comes as no surprise when she runs away to get married. One day Clio and her husband are killed, leaving behind her daughter Myra. Byrdie’s relationship with Clio was never close, but she is devoted to Myra. They live together on Bloodroot Mountain, an inseparable pair. Brydie shares her ways with her, all is good until John Odom catches Myra's eye. Like her mama before her, Myra leaves Bloodroot Mountain to get married.

At this point, the reader picks up the story from Myra’s children’s point of view. They are twins, a son and a daughter. Myra’s life unfolds in Greene’s intricate, multi-layered story that holds together like a carefully laid mosaic. Byrdie, Doug, John Odom, Laura Odom Blevins, and finally Myra share a piece of the tale adding dimensions from their memories of the past as the truth is revealed through them. The expressive, tangible characters and breath with a hint of Appalachia in their souls. The story takes place from 1929 at the beginning of the Great Depression through today.

The pain of the characters,breathtakingly warm and genuine, will penetrate deep into your heart. Greene’s story about family, forgiveness and healing, is summarized beautifully in her words, “It’s not forgetting that heals. It’s remembering.”

Although told with a smooth measured cadence the story moves with unstoppable momentum. Sobbing as the final pages were read, I sat motionless, deep in thought with the opened book on my lap. A poignant debut with emotional depth.

Disclosure: This ARC was sent to me for review from Historical Novels Review.
Original review published in Historical Novels Review, Issue 52, May 2010 as an Editor's Choice.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Happy Birthday Mystery-June 22, 2010



Another celebration for one of my pups. Mystery is 7 years old today. She came to me just about five years ago after her early life as a greyhound racer. As you can see she prefers a more sedate life these days. Some of you may remember when she was having severe neck trauma that resulted in her having seizure like spells. Great news lately for her!! The medication seems to be taking care of the problem. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. In any case, I'm wishing her a Happy Birthday!!!! She is a sweetie and the youngest of my four hounds.







Teaser Tuesdays-June 22, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read. Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser this week comes from A Fierce Radiance, by Lauren Belfer.

"Once again he reassured himself: the experimental subject would have died anyway, would have been dead by now, if they hadn't tried the medication. This was the justification that he clung to as he read about the destriction of the United States fleet at Pearl Harbor, and about the dozens of United States aircraft lined up wing to wing at Luzon in the Phillipines, destroyed in a single raid."
(page 66)

Disclosure: Thanks to Harper Collins for this review copy. :)
Watch for my forthcoming review.


Monday, June 21, 2010

Mailbox Monday-June 21, 2010

As most of you know Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Thank you once again Marcia for hosting this weekly event. :)
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.









Two books arrived this week that have me so excited!

Adam and Eve, by Sena Jeter Naslund




The Doctor and the Diva, by Adrienne McDonnell








Sunday, June 20, 2010

Sunday Salon-June 20, 2010

It's been a beautiful warm and sultry weekend in the Northeast with a promise of a few thunderstorms. I spent a few hours this morning engrossed in my current read, A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer. I'm having a hard time putting this one aside as I contemplate my work week and finishing any stray chores that are lingering. I'll have a review for you this week. Stay tuned, this is one book you will definitely want to put on your TBR list.

I wish the little annoying voice of conscience and guilt didn't have to keep whispering my To Do List in my ear. However, I do love to read Sunday morning in the true Sunday Salon sense. I don't know what I would do without this special day. Today, like most Sundays, my neighborhood is quiet. Without the din of lawnmowers, grass & hedge trimmers and leaf blowers that often create an unwelcome symphony, it is peacefully quiet. I can actually hear the birds as they greet the day. My greyhounds are stretched out on the carpet, bellies full as I sip a cup of tea from one of my pretty little teapots.

I enjoy reading anytime, but there is something special about this part of the week that always makes me happy, relaxed and totally absorbed in the moment. When is your special time of week to read?

Friday, June 18, 2010

Friday Finds-June 18, 2010


Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading.






This week I discovered on my doorstep a copy of Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Naslund. Ms. Naslund is one of my very favorite authors and has been ever since I read Ahab's Wife. I don't often re-read books, but this is one I have revisited twice since. I have also read, Abundance: A Novel of Marie Antoinette and The Four Spirits, both highly recommended. When I had heard about her new book Adam & Eve I was thrilled with anticipation. I can't wait to read this one too. The release date is September 28, 2010 and during that month I will share my review.






Thursday, June 17, 2010

Review-Alchemy and Meggy Swann

ALCHEMY AND MEGGY SWANN
by Karen Cushman
Clarion Books
978-0-547-23184
Page Count: 176
Ages: 10-15, grade 5-9

The year is 1573 when Meggy Swann arrives in London after traveling in a wagon “between baskets of cabbages and sacks of flour.” Her companion and friend is a crippled white goose. And like the goose, Meggy does not walk, she waddles with the aid of two sticks to support her crippled legs. She is raised by her Gran after her mother turned her back on her. Now she is summoned to live with her dad, Master Peevish, an alchemist. An alchemist who makes it quite clear his transformations, his search for gold are paramount.

Meggy must find her way alone. With willful determination she carries on, unaided, struggling as she learns to care for herself. She is angry with understandable reasons. She is befriended by a young boy, an actor, smitten by her angelic face. She has a gift of language, crude yet humorous. She can’t help but spit out threats and insults with each searing word. You have to love this impish character Cushman has created. In one tirade Meggy aims her wrath at Roger as she says,

“Go then you writhled, beetle-brained knave. You churl, you slug, you stony-hearted villain! May onions grow in your ears.”

You can’t help but chuckle as the author makes it so easy to visualize this hot-tempered gammin turning red faced, blowing off steam. If she could, she would probably stomp her foot! The streets of Elizabethan England come alive when you walk them with Meggy Swan, a delightfully quick witted soul on a virtuous mission.

Karen Cushman is one of my favorite children’s authors. Of her many works I especially liked, The Midwife’s Apprentice and Catherine, Called Birdy. Both excellent. I highly recommend Alchemy and Meggy Swann for historical fiction bookshelves in classrooms, and libraries. A great read aloud and perfect for literature circles.

Disclosure: Alchemy and Meggy Swann was sent to me by Picnic Basket for review.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Tuesday Teasers June 15, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read. Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!



Karen Cushman is one of my favorite YA historical fiction writers. She won a Newbery Award for The Midwife's Apprentice and her latest book has me hooked again. Her characters are always so rich and plausible. Meggy Swann is a hoot and she has arrived in London after being summoned by her dad, an alchemist. She is a crippled child who teeters as she walks using sticks. Her friend and companion is a white goose, also lame.


"Even so, the streets were gloomy, with tall houses looming on either side, rank with the smell of fish and the sewage in the gutter, slippery with horse droppings, clamorous with church bells and the clatter of cart wheels rumbling on cobbles. London was a gallimaufry of people and carts, horses and coaches, dogs and pigs, and such noise that made Meggy's head, accustomed to the gentle stillness of the country village, ache.".
Page 4

Monday, June 14, 2010

Mailbox Monday-June 14, 2010

As most of you know Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Thank you once again Marcia for hosting this weekly event. :)
Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.





Now before anyone looks at my mailbox and thinks, "Wow! What a week." I haven't posted a mailbox in a long time. I decided to get back in the swing of things this week after many weeks of not feeling well. So, this is a collection from the past two weeks. I'm not going to catch up with the ones I missed, but I have them recorded on my Google Doc.



Here is the list:
The Last Queen, C.W.Gortner
This Means War, Ellen Wittinger
Days of Grace, Catherine Hall
Lady of the Butterflies, Fiona Mountain
Proust's Overcoat, Lorenza Foschini
An Eagle Named Freedom, Jeff Guidry
Mr. Darcy's Obsession, Abigail Reynolds
Semper Cool, Barry Fixler
The Secrets of Newberry, Victor McGlothin
Alchemy and Meggy Swann, Karen Cushman
The Last Estate,Conor Bowman
How to Survive a Natural Disaster, Margaret Hawkins
Captivity, Deborah Noyes
For the Kings Favor, by Elizabeth Chadwick
Darcy's Voyage, by Kara Louise










Thanks to Anna and Serena from War Through the Generations for sending me an autographed copy of Semper Cool. I am anxious to read this one.

Ladies of the Butterflies and An Eagle Named Freedom are both books from Early Reviewer's on LT.

I'm excited to get to read Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman, one of my favorite YA authors. I started reading this one last night and true to her writing she has me hooked. Watch for my Tuesday Teaser from this book.

With summer vacation arriving in eight days, but who is counting, I am anxious to kick off my summer reading. I have a lot of books in the TBR pile to choose from. My next up is A Fierce Radiance by Lauren Belfer. What is your next read? What are you looking forward to reading this week. Hope your week is the best!


Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Review-The Confessions of Catherine De Medici, by C. W. Gortner

THE CONFESSIONS OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI
C.W.Gortner, Ballantine Books, 2010, $25.00, hb, 416pp, 978-0-345-50186-8

Catherine Medici came to the French court as a reluctant princess: young and naive, and yet somehow she knew her destiny was to guide France to glory. She was the last legitimate descendant of Lorenzo de Medici, she carried her pride well. It is written she had a gift, the second sight and with this and her consults with the infamous Nostradamus, Catherine was guided to act. After her husbands death, her mediocrity faded and she gained increasing power. She emerged an astute formidable and shrewdly confident regent, who maintained a tenacious hold on governing France during her time. Religious tolerance was her mantra and the survival of France was paramount.

To know Catherine, the reader must understand her culture, social life, and children. Romance eluded her with the exception of her often overlooked friendship with Coligny, the Protestant leader who she would later hunt down. The chasm between the followers of Calvin, the Huguenot heretics and the Catholic’s who were the dominant power is historically important to her life’s story. Gortner interweaves this pivotal complex issue into the story bringing with it clear understanding.

Gortner’s story provides a compelling and fascinating view of Catherine’s life and world, her world being France. The reader will empathize with Catherine, will ache for her and sometimes recoil in disgust when her actions become too extreme. The details and the chronology of historical events told as Catherine’s confessions in first person narrative are personal and emotionally realistic. When Hercule, her crippled son is drawing his last breath, the scene is woefully tragic, so beautifully penned, that the passage will beseech tears. You will devour this read desperate to satiate your curiosity. The writing is as illuminating and powerful as the character of this infamous legend known as Catherine de Medici. Highly recommended without a doubt!

As published in Historical Novels Review: May 2010-Editor's Choice
Disclosure: This book was sent to me by HNR for book review.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays- June 7, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read. Open to a random page.
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I'm not the biggest sports fan in the world so I was reluctant to read this story centered around baseball. Surprise on me! I enjoyed reading about Ruby Thomas and her boundless will and eternal hope for a better life.

Diamond Ruby by Joseph Wallace

From the cover:

"Seventeen-year-0ld Ruby Thomas, newly responsible for her two young nieces after a devastating tragedy, is determined to keep her family safe in the vast, swirling world of 1920's New York City. She's got street smarts, boundless determination, and one unusual skill: the ability to throw a ball as hard as the greatest pitchers in a baseball-mad-city."


"She tried to picture what it would be like to wear such things as a rule. To lie on luxurious pillows on Sunday morning, with nothing to do but pick at breakfast off fine plates while music played and the sun streamed in through unstreaked windows."
(Page 79)

This book is an ARC sent by Historical Novels Review for review.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

A Cottage by the Sea, by Ciji Ware

A COTTAGE BY THE SEA
by Ciji Ware
Sourcebooks Landmark
9781402222702
June 2010
$15.99US/$18.99CAN
544 pages



Blythe Barton, desperate and mortified following her highly publicized Hollywood divorce from the flamboyant director Christopher Stowe, flees to England, the land of her ancestors for solitude and rest. Even the millions that become hers in the settlement will not assuage the humiliation she suffered when she discovered the steamy affair between her husband and sister. To add salt to the festering wound, upon leaving court she learns with added embarrassment that the two have wed.

Arriving at Barton Hall in Cornwall, she meets the owner, her landlord Lucas Teague. He informs her that her attorney Lisa, has extended her lease by three months. When she calls Lisa she is told that the media is in a frenzy after the announcement that her sister is pregnant and it would be best for her to stay put.

Resigned to her fate she begins to build a new life, with hope of erasing her past. She settles into Painter’s Cottage by the sea surrounded by lush plantings and incredible views of the sea. Lucas, she admits When she meets her landlord and the owner of Barton Hall she notes how attractive and British he is and her curiosity rises, but with reserved caution she maintains her distance. Lucas shares his recent financial troubles with Blythe and she uses her skills as a production designer to generate a business plan that she hopes will make Barton Hall solvent.

She falls in love with Lucas, but his inability to share his life with his son disturbs her. Through some anomaly in the Barton genealogy chart, she discovers the linkage between her present and ancestral past life. She has vivid visions that uncover the buried history of her namesake leaving her confused with many unanswered questions. Then an unwelcome surprise visit by her ex-husband infuriates her as she is forced to deal with her psychologically unbalanced sister and a life changing plea from her remorseful ex.

With a mystical allure, the story slowly teases the reader as the present, past and future are plaited together. Through the lives of Blythe Barton and her forbears who lived in the 18th century, the history of Barton Hall emerges with a surprising twist. Blythe and Lucas are sensually hot, passionate lovers who were destined for each other. Each character is so compellingly real and touchable the story breathes believability. Once again, Ciji Ware has written an absorbing romance of historical fiction. Cottage by the Sea is a scintillating summer read offering pure enchantment.

This book was sent by Sourcebooks, Inc in exchange for a review.