Hit the Reading Road with '12 Amazing Bookmobiles'

Wanted to share...so cool. How does one do this?



Hit the Reading Road with '12 Amazing Bookmobiles'





Wisteria 4/16/15

Review-War Dogs by Rebecca Frankel

 

War Dogs
Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love
Rebecca Frankel
Palgrave Macmillan Trade (2014),
Hardcover, 272 pages


Disclosure: A copy of War Dogs was sent to me by Library Thing Early Reviewer program in exchange for an unbiased review... submitted below.






This book offers a view of the relationship between dog handlers in the military and their dog. 
The bond that develops over time during training and ultimate deployment in action is remarkable. Rebecca Frankel has put together a collection of war dog stories that is memorable and thoughtful. Readers will no doubt take pause to reflect as each story is unique. However, a common thread exists throughout the book that ties these tales together. Each handler and his dog have an unbreakable bond. Each is devoted to the other with an unbreakable trust and love. So much so that they will often give their life for each other....dog for man and man for dog. 

Rebecca Frankel presents her stories with clarity, sensitivity and realism. Highly recommended. ~©Wisteria Leigh

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review-Beholding Bee, by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Beholding Bee

by Kimberly Newton Fusco

Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
February 12, 2013
Hardcover, 336 pages
978-0375868368
Lexile: 790L

Review by Wisteria©

Beeholding Bee will engage readers from the first page.  Life has not been fair to Bee who at eleven became an orphan when both parents were tragically killed.  She was born with a disfiguring facial birthmark which causes her to hide and withdraw inwardly.  However, fortunately,  Pauline, a carnival worker who knew her parents has befriended her.  They both work for Ellis, the sleazy owner of the traveling carnival.   By day Bee cuts onions and works with Pauline at the hotdog concession.  Her home is the back of a hauling truck used by the carnival. She fears Ellis, who lurks around with threats to include Bee in his freak side show act.  

Kimberly Newton Fusco uses precise descriptive prose to setting and place for readers to fully realize.   Characters are multi-dimentional, descriptively real thus a perfect novel to have students focus on character traits.  The novel is written in first person through Bee's voice an important author strategy that makes the reader feel Bee's pain and low self-esteem.  Bee would rather be a shadow, hidden and forgotten.  Another devastating break forces Bee to take charge, in order to find a new place to live.  Readers will adore her spunk and vulnerability, a memorable and relevant character to identify with. 

Beholding Bee lends itself to classroom discussion and literature group study in elementary and early middle school.  A perfect classroom read aloud with themes reminiscent of Wonder, by R.J. Palacio. 

Themes that emerge for discussion-difference, acceptance, bullying, special needs, courage and perseverance, women's roles/rights and more. 

Beholding Bee, by Kimberly Newton Fusco is an essential first choice purchase for school and public libraries, and consider a classroom set purchase grade 3+. I'm sure this will be a student favorite...highly recommended. 

View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was borrowed with no compensation. 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Guest Post- The Price of Blood (Book II), by Patricia Bracewell

The Price of Blood

by Patricia Bracewell
Publisher: Viking
Release: February 5, 2015
978-0525427278
448 pages

Short note from Wisteria:

Amazing!  I first read Shadow of the Crown (The Emma of Normandy Trilogy #1) when it was first released.
I became fascinated with Emma of Normandy and her dominant and sagacious personality. Recently I was asked by Viking Publishers to share a Guest Post by the author, Patricia Bracewell.  Please see below.   I also have a link she has shared all readers to her Online Book Club for this novel.

I wanted to share my enthusiasm for The Price of Blood immediately.  This is a vibrant drama that pulls from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles a portrayal of Emma of Normandy from A.D. 1006-A.D.1012.  As the author notes, her presence was there when Vikings ravaged the English realm.  This is the second book in the trilogy and sadly, my anxiety will have to wait for the last book. Perhaps, a bit of meditation will help.  In the meantime, I might have to re-read both books. The Price of Blood begins with Emma the Queen of King AEthelred.  She has little power in her own right, as women are considered pawns in a chess game. However, she hopes that the alliances she creates with the strong clergy and others will serve to enhance her power.  It is for her children that she is most worried.  Her marriage to Aethelred was arranged, her worth valued by her ability to produce sons. Her tenacity, patience  and keen wisdom are tested, for she also is in love with a prince. A prince who the king believes would like nothing better than to unseat him.  I most highly recommend this second book in the trilogy.

Loving Research (for Bookworm’s Dinner) 
by Patricia Bracewell

"I’m going to share with you a little secret about researching a historical novel: Novelists LOVE the research. We swoon over it, bathe in it, and struggle to tear ourselves away from it long enough to write our books. There. Now you know.

My own research process, I regret to admit, is helter-skelter.  Most of it is done at my desk or in a university library taking notes on whatever academic tome is open in front of me. Often there are several books open at once, scattered on the table and even on the floor when I run out of room.

Sometimes I’ve been more creative: I’ve taken a summer course in Anglo-Saxon history at Cambridge University; I’ve exchanged e-mails with a thatcher in England; I’ve gazed across a tea table at an eminent historian of Anglo-Saxon textiles and whispered, “Let’s talk about medieval women’s undergarments.”

I was very shy about approaching experts to ask for help when I first began my research. I’m less so now. Having a novel published in four languages has done wonders for my self-confidence.

Some of my research is done on the internet: consulting databases of articles about the Anglo-Saxons; studying Old English charters; or exploring the histories of places that I want to use as settings – whether towns, villages, ancient pathways or stone circles.

The facts about people’s lives, though, are not so easy to come by a thousand years on. For example, we know the names of King Æthelred’s children, but not much more than that. The dates of their births are historical guesses, not facts. The eldest son, Athelstan, left a will, and every single thing that we know about him is contained in that 2-page list of bequests. It isn’t much.

Academics are willing to speculate a bit about the activities of the historical figures of England’s 11^th century, based on whatever tiny hints they can glean from the historical record – the chronicles, the charters, the wills, even the Norse sagas. Information in such documents, though, is often contradictory, leaving even the historians puzzled about what actually happened. And then there’s the when and the how and the why to try to establish. That’s where a novelist can give her imagination free reign while an academic has to be more guarded. For the fiction writer, that’s where the fun comes in.

Researching Emma’s life during the years covered by my trilogy, especially in Shadow on the Crown and The Price of Blood, was difficult because there is almost no record of her at all in those years. Her name is mentioned a few times in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and she signs several charters, indicating that she was at court beside the king on those occasions. One charter in 1012 is a grant of land from the king to Emma, so historians conjecture that she gave birth to a son at about that time. But where was she the rest of the time and what was she doing? Because there was no other direct reference to Emma, all I could do was bury myself in the history of and make some conjectures of my own based on what I was able to learn about a queen’s duties and Emma’s later career.

Frequently the vagueness of historical records forced me to invent. For instance, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle claimed that the Danes attacked London several times in 1009, and that the Londoners always repelled them. But there was no description of what, exactly, happened when the Danes attacked. I had to make it up based on my imagination and what I could learn of the military tactics of the time.

Sometimes I’ve discovered a tiny bit of information that I find really intriguing, and then I spend a lot of mental effort trying to figure out how to use it in my story. I wanted to use that gift of property from the king to Emma in 1012 that I mentioned above, but I couldn’t make it work. It just didn’t fit anywhere. The information that the thatcher sent me resulted in a terrific scene, but it was cut in a late draft. When I was at Gladstone’s Library in Wales a few months ago I learned something fascinating about Swein Forkbeard (not saying what), and now I’m trying desperately to find a way to include it in the next book. I guess you could call that the heartbreak of research – all those lovely bits that don’t make it into the novel. Research – much as we love it, sometimes we have to let it go."  

(by Patricia Bracewell courtesy of Meredith Burks, Viking Press)

Just fyi Pat will be tweeting out interesting #AngloSaxonFact throughout February. You can follow her at @PatBracewell.

A review copy was sent to me for review by Viking Press, Meredith Burks, Senior Publicist in exchange for an unbiased review and guest author blog.

View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review and possible post by Henry Holt and Company.  This is  my unbiased personal review. 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review-A Royal Experiment by Janice Hadlow

A Royal Experiment

The Private Life of King George III

by Janice Hadlow

Published by: Henry Holt & Company

November 18th, 2014

704 pages, 9780805096569

Most American's have an opinion of King George III as the king who overtaxed the colonies, a stubborn and unreasonable tyrant. If you believe that then, A Royal Experiment, by Janice Hadlow will intrigue you.

The American Revolutionary Era in American History stands out as one of my most favorite historical time periods. I have read and studied the history of this era in post-grad classes and it never fails to dominate my personal curiosity with an influence on my reading choices. Whether non-fiction history or historical fiction, I gravitate to this setting with un-satiability. I have read biographies, memoirs, primary documents, historical texts, articles and non-fiction books that focus on the American side of the Atlantic. However, this is the first book that I have read that takes place entirely on the other side of the ocean.

From the moment I read about this book, I planned to fit it into my TBR book list. I was then fortunate to receive a review copy by the publisher, Henry Holt and Company. Janice Hadlow has written an account of King George III and his wife Queen Charlotte that is not about the American Revolution, but instead depicts the man in his less familiar role as father and husband. Who would think King George !!! had any wish to provide a stable and loving home? He and Queen Charlotte had fifteen children. Charlotte was first pregnant at age eighteen. Remarkably, thirteen of their children survived infancy.

The king was determined to show that his commitment to fidelity and family life were paramount in his life. He planned to show his kingdom, a view far different from his ancestors. It was important to him that the world see him as a devoted father and faithful husband as well as king. It was to be, as Janice Hadlow so aptly titles her book, A Royal Experiment.

Hadlow's author's notes offered new insight for this reader. I learned that Queen Charlotte, was a highly intelligent woman who resented her twenty plus years of pregnancy.She was a woman out of sync with her generation. King George !!! believed "the personal was always inextricably linked to the political" (pg xvi) and his hope was that the public would want to mirror his private life. I assumed that if his label as a tyrant in the colonies was genuine, it would carry over to his personal life. (No spoilers.)

Janice Hadlow relied on countless 18th century letters, diaries and correspondence to gather the most honest and personal account of this royal monarchy. The letters available by friends and family during the 18th century of her research are abundant. I found it humorous that she discovered they were inclined to gossip and they loved to write. One wonders what the 18th century Facebook would be like?

A Royal Experiment is a richly detailed book about King George III and Queen Charlotte. Hadlow is able to provide a fascinating full dimension view of the American Colonist's former monarch. A compelling and highly recommended history. 

View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review and possible post by Henry Holt and Company.  This is  my unbiased personal review. 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2015]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Review- Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani

Children of the Jacaranda Tree by Sahar Delijani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
ISBN-978-1-4767=0909-3
Atria Books
Published: 2013
Novel: History-Iran, post-revolutionary Iran, 1983-2011

This is one of the best books I have read this year!  Sahar Delijani has a poetically beautiful writing style. She is able to capture the smallest nuance of life. When you read Children of the Jacaranda Tree, you will be immersed in the lives of people caught up in ongoing conflict in Iran from 1979.  You will experience their lives as if a person is dictating it to those who can not see. The detail is spot on, the imagery is gorgeous.  As a reader, I felt connected to the lives of the characters in her book. Honestly, it was a visual movie in my mind. Such a talented writer. Don't mis this one.


View all my review on Goodreads

Disclosure: This book was sent to me for review and possible post by Atria Books.  I have written my unbiased personal reflection.

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Enter to Win ….Book Giveaway!!!

4th of July BOOK CONTEST….

WIN A COPY OF JAMES MADISON: A Live Reconsidered
by LYNNE CHENEY

• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (May 6, 2014)
•   

Penguin Random House has asked me to host a book giveaway for Lynne Cheney's fascinating book, James Madison: A Life Reconsidered.  Just in time for the fireworks and celebrations for the   4th of July, this year, someone will be fortunate to win this treasure. 

I read this amazing history of James Madison and for those of you who devour American History you won't want to miss this biography.  Ms. Cheney, has studied Madison since the late 80's.  Her portrait of this dynamic political powerhouse will grasp your attention from the beginning.  I will post a review for viewers in the next few days, but until then take advantage of this generous giveaway sponsored by the publisher. ~WL

Recommendation: Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick

BUNKER HILL: A City, A Siege, A Revolution*

by Nathaniel Philbrick

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; 1 edition (April 30, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670025445
• ISBN-13: 978-0670025442

*#2 on Amazon's Best Sellers for the Colonial Period  

My Comments:

If you have read any other books by Nathaniel Philbrick , than you know as I have discovered, his historical narratives are of the highest quality and utterly engaging.  Honestly, I have had this book in my sights since before its release date last year.  One thing about being an avid reader,  the TBR nightstand becomes a precarious pile teetering near collapse.  If not, then your bookshelves are perhaps meticulously organized, or perhaps crammed with two rows deep. One thing is certain, they all haunt this reader as they whisper "read me next."  Is it me, or are there just not enough hours…to savor each book, while new temptation beckons you to the next possibility ---when you have finished?  

Official Book Trailer-You Tube

I have to apologize to the author, as I purchased this book when it first came out.  I bought it because I knew Nathaniel Philbrick's reputation, his compelling narratives and I was anxious to read BUNKER HILL.  I love American History and particularly this period in our country's birth.  I call myself part sentimental, part historian and always part the curious cat. But for whatever reason, Bunker Hill is a riveting narrative about a city. A city which Philbrick calls his main character.  Within the city our history plays out with the famous people we know like,  Joseph Warren, John and Sam Adams, John Hancock, Revere, Washington, Gage and the loyalists and patriots.  The story begins and ends with the role played by a young seven year old witness to the Battle of Bunker Hill, John Quincy Adams.  With tears in his eyes the violence of the day and the death of his beloved family friend, Dr. Joseph Warren, would stay with him for his entire life.  BUNKER HILL:  A City, A Siege,  A Revolution is superb. It has become a best seller, and is now in paperback as well. I only regret that I had not read this one sooner. I have already skimmed back numerous times. A must read for readers of American History- Philbrick is a phenomenal storyteller supported with his dense research.  ~Wisteria Leigh (2014)

Disclosure:  I purchased the copy of Bunker Hill for this review. WL

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

ebookfriendly.com/free-public-domain-books-sources/

Hi everyone!  I wanted to pass on this list of free-public-domain book sources to you and have it handy on my blog so that I can refer back to it.  Enjoy!

http://ebookfriendly.com/free-public-domain-books-sources/

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness-Cover Reveal

The cover of the last book in Deborah Harkness's, All Souls Trilogy, has been revealed. THE BOOK OF LIFE will be released by Viking on July 15th 2014. 

I have read the first two books in this trilogy and have eagerly awaited Ms. Harkness's concluding novel, The Book of Life.  The first two books A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES and SHADOW OF NIGHT had me on the edge of my seat more than not. Sure to generate fright, anxious and edgy drama, the trilogy somehow is movie-like, imagery forms in the mind induced by this writer's exceptional story in print.

Harkness has conceived erotically enticing and memorable characters who will grip readers in their  otherworldly schemes of good vs evil.  The allure is irresistible and readers will be drawn forward without awareness of time.   I know I was a captive audience for the first two books and expect THE BOOK OF LIFE to be the same.

Below is an excerpt, tagged with the author credit lines.  I hope you will be as excited as I am for this highly anticipated conclusion.  If you haven't read the first two books, you have time to catch up on this
entertaining thriller from the other side.


BOOK OF LIFE- EXCERPT by Deborah Harkness*

Ghosts didn’t have much substance; they were composed only of memories and heart. Atop one of Sept-Tours’ round towers, Emily Mather pressed a diaphanous hand against the spot in the center of her chest that even now was heavy with dread.

It had been her witch’s sixth sense that someone was in mortal peril that had steered Emily down the path leading to this moment. But the death she had foreseen was her own. 

Does it ever get easier? Her voice, like the rest of her, was almost imperceptible. The watching? The waiting? The knowing?

Not that I’ve noticed, Philippe de Clermont replied shortly. He was perched nearby, studying his own transparent fingers.

Emily’s face fell, and Philippe silently cursed himself. Since she’d died, the witch had been his constant companion, cutting his loneliness in two.

Perhaps it will be easier when they don’t need us anymore, Philippe said more gently. He might be the more experienced ghost, but it was Emily who understood the metaphysics of their situation. What the witch had told him went against everything Philippe believed about the Afterworld.

Diana’s warm alto floated up to the battlements. Diana and Matthew, Emily and Philippe said in unison, peering down on the cobbled courtyard that surrounded the château.

There, Philippe said, pointing at the drive. Even dead, his vampire sight was sharper than any human’s. He was also still more handsome than any man had a right to be, with his broad shoulders and devilish grin. He turned the latter on Emily, who couldn’t help grinning back. They are a fine couple, are they not? Look how much my son has changed.

Vampires weren’t supposed to be altered by the passing of time, and so Emily expected to see the same black hair, so dark it glinted blue; the same celadon eyes, cool and remote as a winter sea; the same pale skin and wide mouth. There were a few subtle differences though, as Philippe suggested. Matthew’s hair was shorter, and he had a beard that made him look even more dangerous, like a pirate. She gasped.

Is Matthew—bigger? . . . Diana looks different, too. More like her mother, with that long coppery hair.

Diana stumbled on a cobblestone and Matthew’s hand shot out to steady her.

It’s not just Diana’s hair that has changed. Philippe’s face had a look of wonder. Diana is with child—Matthew’s child.

Emily examined her niece more carefully, using the supernatural grasp of truth that death afforded.

What will happen now, Philippe? Emily asked, her heart growing heavier.

Endings. Beginnings, Philippe said with deliberate vagueness. Change.

Diana has always resisted change, Emily said.

That is because she is afraid of what she must become, replied Philippe.

 

*From The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness. Reprinted by arrangement with Viking, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, a Penguin Random House company. Copyright © Deborah Harkness, 2014.

A Charles Dickens Challenge in 2014

Dickens 2014 Classic Challenge

Challenge Details

To sign up just use the Mister LInky widget and indicate how many books you think you will read. 

• For this challenge, you decide which and the quantity of works by Charles Dickens you wish to read.

1. Read One……You are: Oliver Twist
2. Read Two……You are: A Tale of Two Cities
3. Read Three….You are: Our Mutual Friend 

• Will you be Oliver Twist---A Tale of Two Cities or … Our Mutual Friend?
• 
  
• For example: Bookworms Dinner, One Book, etc
• Add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky. I’ll be adding to my monthly recap post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review). You may also link to your review on Goodreads. For example: Bookworms Dinner, Great Expectations, URL to your review.
• ENOY THE CHALLENGE! I'm looking forward to reading your reviews.  I'm curious to find out how many Dickens fans are in the blog world. :)  You may read any selection written by Charles Dickens. 

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

• 
  

World Book Night is April 23, 2014

In the past few years I have been a World Book Night Giver.  World Book Night has been very exciting for me as a library/media specialist.  Recipients have been excited, surprised and grateful for the opportunity to read something I have had previously read.  Just like my students, everyone wants to know about the book, so impromptu book talks are common. I hope to be a giver again this year. I have  linked the book selections below. 

For my readers who don't know about this organization, here is the press release:

World Book Night U.S. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading the love of reading, person to person. For more information about World Book Night, please visit our About Us section. 

The media plays an important role in the success of World Book Night U.S. For the past two years, they helped us broadcast to local and national communities the effort and hard work that went into distributing half a million books to light and non-readers across the country. Without the media, many of the wonderful stories that happened on April 23, 2013 would have gone unnoticed.

If you are a member of the media interested in learning more about World Book Night U.S., please contact us at April23@WorldBookNight.org, or email our Executive Director at Carl@WorldBookNight.org

If you would like to support World Book Night here is an easy link to follow:

Raise money online for World Book Night US

Booklist for 2014

http://www.us.worldbooknight.org/images/2014/2014Resources_AND_docs/2014_WBN_Title_Information_for_Booksellers_and_Librarians.pdf

© [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner], [2008-2014]. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to [Wisteria Leigh] and [Bookworm's Dinner] with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

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