Romance with a Strong Dose of Humor

Title Annie’s Song
Author Sabra Brown Steinsiek
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: Whiskey Creek Press
Publisher: http://whiskeycreekpress.com/store/
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1593748094
ISBN-13: 978-1593748098
Price: $16.95 Amazon


Reviewed by Connie Gotsch

‘Annie’s Song’ by Sabra Brown Steinsiek has a typical romance plot. Boy (Kit) knows girl (Annie) since childhood. They’re sort of friends. Boy (Kit) and Girl (Annie), go out with other people. That doesn’t work and they end up friends, lovers, and engaged.

What saves ‘Annie’s Song,’ from unraveling into clichés is the laugh the author has with the throes, trials, triumphs, and tribulations of young love. At 23, Annie Collins has experienced success on the Broadway stage, but because her life has revolved around the theater, she has never had a serious boyfriend.

Deciding she’s ready to give that a try, she experiences the infatuations, tears, and befuddlement's that everyone over the age of 30 has experienced as they try to date. In one hilarious scene, Kit, who becomes her platonic roommate, arrives home just in time to interrupt her romantic moment with the guy she believes is Mr. Right. Who hasn’t been there and witnessed that?

While much of the action of ‘Annie’s Song’ takes place in New York, Sabra Brown Steinsiek mixes in a good bit of Southwestern culture, by giving Annie a native New Mexican mother, and a Hispanic grandmother, who lives in Ireland with Annie’s grandfather.

The result is a joyful blend of foods and customs that both evoke fond memories of family gatherings, and capture the feeling of what it’s like to live in a state where Hispanics, Anglos, and Indians have more or less learned to get along over four centuries.

Steinsiek also adds a touch of Albuquerque popular history. A ghost said to haunt the KiMo, an old theater at 5th and Central downtown, comes to warn Annie of danger. Real street names and locations, both eastern and western, add a further sense of authenticity to the book. Steinsiek’s simple and direct descriptions trigger memories of both locations, to anyone who’s been lucky enough to spend time in Manhattan and New Mexico.

Add to that a few unexpected (and sometimes nasty) events, a slew of Annie’s girl friends and nieces; a doting father, and older sisters, and ‘Annie’s Song’ becomes a celebration for anyone who has come of age with strong roots and powerful wings.

It won’t matter that the reader will guess the outcome of the book long before the end. Steinsiek’s humor and warmth make ‘Annie’s Song’ work anyway.
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Connie Gotsch, Imagination on Board
Author of "A Mouth Full of Shell" and "Snap Me a Future"
Featured in "The Complete Writer's Journal" --www.redenginepress.com
Find out more at www.conniegotsch.com or dlsijpress.com or ebook.com

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coaliition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.

Zogby Poll on Why Readers Read, Book Buyers Buy

This is really a media release rather than a review but it seemed pertinent to a review site -- important information for both authors and readers alike -- so I thought I would include it.



COMPREHENSIVE SURVEY OF BOOK BUYERS AND READERS TO BE RELEASED BY RENOWNED POLLSTER

JOHN ZOGBY ON FRIDAY, MAY 30 AT

BOOK EXPO AMERICA IN LOS ANGELES



May 19, 2008 New York, NY: John Zogby, one of the leading voices in the public opinion research industry, and his firm Zogby International have partnered with The Random House Publishing Group to design and conduct an extensive nationwide interactive poll of book buyers to determine how, why and where they purchase and read books. The just-completed survey, which drew 8200 responses, provides an in-depth picture of Americans’ reading and book-buying habits—from the influence of book reviews and recommendations, to details on how they browse for books, both in store and online.

In his presentation at BEA (details below), Zogby will put the findings of his survey into context and provide marketing information that booksellers and publishers can use to connect with the changing American consumer.

“This survey provides an unprecedented look at where people purchase books and how they make their decisions about what books to buy”, comments Zogby. “The findings also highlight the similarities – and differences – between men and women, young and old, and across the income spectrum to capture the latest opinions of today’s consumers on an extensive range of book-related topics. It will no doubt prove an invaluable tool for anyone looking to get a good read on the American book-buying public.”

Zogby is the author of a new book, The Way We'll Be: The Zogby Report on the Transformation of the American Dream, which Random House will publish on August 12. In it he identifies a new American consensus arising from the collapse of trust in our leaders and leading institutions. Basing his analysis on thousands of polls conducted by his organization, he sees four main trends that affect how Americans buy and vote: learning to live with limits, embracing diversity, rejecting materialism, and demanding authenticity.

Zogby’s presentation , “The New American Character,” is scheduled from 10-11 a.m. on Friday, May 30 in Room 406A at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Carol Schneider
V.P., Executive Director, Publicity & Public Relations
The Random House Publishing Group
1745 Broadway 17-4
New York, NY 10019
212/572-2245
cschneider@randomhouse.com

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coaliition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.

Literary Radio Host Rills on Equality and "The Girl with Braided Hair"

Title ‘The Girl with Braided Hair’
Author Margaret Coel
Publisher The Berkley Publishing Group
375 Hudson Street
New York, New York
10014-3658
www.penguin.com
Price $16.29 Amazon
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (September 4, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425217124
ISBN-13: 978-0425217122

Reviewed by Connie Gotsch

Liz has to get off the rez, or angry AIM members will drive her off--into a grave. Packing her baby into her old car, she scrapes money together for gas, and heads for Denver.

With that incident, Colorado mystery writer Margaret Coel begins her thriller, ‘The Girl with Braided Hair.’ A professional historian, Ms. Coel has spent much of her career researching the Arapaho and their lives on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, first for nonfiction books, and now for novels.

She has written 13 mysteries featuring Arapaho lawyer, Vicky Holden, and Catholic priest, Father John O’Malley as protagonists. Together they solve murders. Sometimes the police, Vicky’s children, people working at Father John’s mission, or Vicky’s love interest, Adam Lone Eagle, help out. Sometimes they hinder the process.

In ‘The Girl with Braided Hair,’ Vicky and Father John must identify the skeleton of a person killed in 1973 and left to rot in a shallow grave along a highway. The plot has all the elements of a typical mystery: false leads, uncooperative witnesses, threats to Vicky and Father John, cliffhanger car chases, and an explosive climax that reveals both the killer and the victim’s identity.

This model might lead to repetitious themes and predictable twists, especially after 13 novels. Margaret Coel avoids that trap. The components required for a good whodunit serve her as a framework around which to weave thoroughly researched Arapaho history, adding education to the fun of a good thriller.

For ‘The Girl with Braided Hair,” Coel examines the American Indian Movement (AIM), its origins, the struggles that drew people into it, and the related attitudes about it that linger today on the Wind River Reservation.

Her characters come off as solidly three-dimensional against this background. Vicky Holden is a kind, sincere person who wants to use her education as a lawyer to do right for her people by supporting ordinary individuals. She eagerly accepts a request from her neighbors to find the identity of the skeleton.

Her lover, Adam Lone Eagle, carries on the struggle by looking at the actions of large entities, in this case corporations discriminating against Native Americans in hiring practices. He does not approve of Vicky’s choice to leave an important case and chase down the name of a long-dead person about whom no one has cared before.
Father John struggles with alcoholism, an impending transfer, and a spirit that would much rather deal with people than the invoices, checkbooks, memos, and papers required to run a mission on a reservation. Perhaps he also harbors a love for Vicky that he cannot fulfill

In the end, the murder victim while undeserving of death, has by choice trusted vicious people. Thirty years after the heyday of AIM, the individuals who both loved and hated this person suffer repercussions from their emotions, and related decisions.

However, strong characterization and presentation of Arapaho history alone do not raise ‘The Girl with Braided Hair,’ above the typical good ole murder thriller. Margaret Coel adds one more element to make that happen. She uses the story to introduce several good and universal questions that everyone must face in some way.

What is the right way to lead a struggle for equality? What’s important to fight for in that process? What do people do at any given time that leads to good or bad outcomes? What decisions haunt them 30 years later? How important is individual identity and why? How long should a person hold on to something he loves? When is it time to move on?

Margaret Coel’s approach makes readers think about their own life decisions, and the effect those decisions have on themselves and others. An author who does that is always fresh, even if she writes a thousand stories about a particular set of characters.
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Reviewer Connie Gotsch is the author "A Mouth Full of Shell" and "Snap Me a Future" published by DLSIJ Press.
She is featured in "The Complete Writer's Journal" published by Red Engine Press --www.redenginepress.com
She is also a radio host for KSJE.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coaliition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.

Conor and the Crossroads: At It Again!

Title - Conor and the Crossworlds: Book Two: Peril in the Corridors
Author - Kevin Gerard
ISBN - 9781583852385
Genre - Young Adult Fantasy
From Journal - Front Street Reviews
Publisher - Cold Tree Press
Reviewer's Rating - Top Shelf!

Reviewed by Mary Aycock for Front Street ReviewsConor and T


This second quest into the Crossworlds brings us into our main character’s life two years after the first story. The Lady of the Light appears in Conor Jameson’s bedroom and asks him to accompany her back into the Crossworlds to assist with a problem that was actually created when our young hero and his mentor, Purugama, had their first adventures together. Completely by accident, Purugama and Conor unknowingly created a situation whereby the Crossworlds corridors have been weakened and are now in danger of being destroyed by the Circle of Evil. Many horrible and treacherous evildoers had escaped their bonds when the corridors were weakened and could no longer hold them captive. Now they are on a vengeful drive to destroy all forces of good and all means of traveling through the Crossworlds corridors.

Conor decides to accompany the Lady of the Light to the Glade of Champions, where he meets Maya and the other Crossworlds Champions, Eha, Ajur, Surmitang and Therion. All of the Crossworlds Champions are amazing and endearing but GIGANTIC members of the cat family, just as Purugama was. Anyone who is a cat lover, including myself, would give their left arm to be in Conor’s position, meeting and being mentored by a giant Panther and Cheetah and Tiger and Lion, not to mention Maya, who has the outward appearance of a gigantic domestic cat, but is the Lord of the Crossworlds Champions. All are vested with special powers, which Conor gets to feel and enjoy and practice, as he accompanies Maya on several perilous quests to repair the Crossworlds corridors. Maya is the only one of the huge cats who can travel with Conor through the Crossworlds, but the other cats are able to lend Conor their powers and magical abilities to help him fight the many terrifying foes that are trying to prevent the corridor repairs. In order to give Maya the time he needs to work the repairs on the corridors, Conor must battle and defeat a human-dragon mutant, a formless entity and a shape-shifting master of darkness. Oh, the deliciously scary things we come face to face with on this journey!

The action-packed fast pace will have you turning page after page as fast as possible to see what comes next, because this author holds nothing back in his quest to show you every corner of the Crossworlds and all the dangers that lurk within. As Conor battles each wicked foe, your heart beats faster as you try to think past what is happening to all of the possible outcomes, only to be surprised by the turn of events.

The battle scenes are huge in dimension and impact as Conor fights for his life, using his wits and the powers of the mighty Crossworlds Champions. What incredible powers he wields as he fights the best (or is that the worst?) that the Circle of Evil can throw at him. Entire worlds are involved; the span of our imagination grows with each battle. As I was reading, I kept envisioning these scenes on a big screen, wondering how the movie world would create the amazing things that come straight from this author’s incredible imagination. This mind-blowing series of battles against the Circle of Evil’s finest team of destroyers would be quite a feat to translate to the big screen, but my goodness, what an awesome thing that would be to see and to hear! Hollywood, are you paying attention here????

I was impressed with the first book of "Conor and the Crossworlds” and was wondering if the second book would be as good as the first or, as sometimes happens, not live up to the promise. Well, let me tell you, I was NOT disappointed after reading the second book in a series that is turning out to be a highly entertaining and enjoyable read. There is so much MORE in this second book for everyone to enjoy, fast paced action, close calls around every bend, tender moments between Conor and the amazing giant cats who are the Crossworld Champions, surprises, treachery, deception, battles to end all battles and foes that will curl your hair!

There is a wonderful sense of right fighting against wrong in Conor’s perilous journey and you see him grow stronger and wiser with every confrontation. I truly think that we, as readers, grow with him and learn with him and come away with the sense that we want to change our world for the better, now that we know what can go horribly wrong if we continue as we are. Three cheers to the author, Kevin Gerard, for giving us reality’s lessons disguised as enchanting fiction.

I was carried along on this journey with Conor and Maya and the other Crossworld Champions and they will always be a part of my heart. This book will have to be reread, slowly this time, just so I can savor the relationships and the experiences once more. The author has left me with a deep hunger for the NEXT book in this series and, for all the world, I have NO idea where his imagination is going to take me next time, but I am ready for the ride! Bring it on, Kevin, but please bring it on SOON!

The author, Kevin Gerard, lives in San Diego, CA, with his wife and four children. When he is not busy being a successful professor of sociology and statistics for California State University, San Marcos, you will find him doing fun things with his extended family in and around the San Diego area. The Crossworlds series provided the main impetus for his decision to pursue a professional writing career and may prove to him that he can now concentrate on writing full time, to the exclusion of all other endeavors.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coaliition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.