Mike Angley’s Award-Winning Debut Novel Gets 5-Stars

Title: Child Finder
Author: Mike Angley
Publisher: TotalRecall Publications, Inc.
Genre: mystery/thriller
ISBN: 978-1590958278
Rating: 5-Stars


Reviewed by Stephanie Boyd for Armchair Interviews


Child Finder is the first book of a new suspense thriller series featuring Air Force Special Agent Patrick O’Donnell.

Patrick discovers he has a psychic gift as he begins to experience very vivid and sensory detailed dreams about children that are missing. Not wanting to risk his military career he approaches a trusted former commander who is rumored to run a Top Secret program that includes anything in the paranormal realm. Patrick is quickly pulled into the program and proves he can locate these missing children under the right conditions. But Patrick is worried about how the program is affecting his family life and he is also very concerned about some of the government’s methods to ensure this program remains a secret. Murderers are being caught–but are innocent people’s rights also being violated?

I loved this book! A former Military Intelligence Officer, the author’s background adds credibility to this fascinating look into covert operations. But just because he knows what he is talking about doesn’t mean he can tell a good story or especially write one! Luckily for those of us who love secret undercover organizations, paranormal stories, and great intriguing suspense filled tales, Mike Angley has it all together.

Patrick is a remarkable character, honorable, moral, patriotic, and a devoted Catholic. It does not matter what your religious beliefs are, Patrick’s conflict between his religious beliefs and his psychic gift makes for a fascinating contrast. You’ll but love the character of this dedicated and truly caring man. I would not say this is a “Christian book” as that puts limitations on it that are not really valid. Patrick has a strong belief system but the other character’s beliefs do not come into play and obviously some of them are not believers by their actions. This story is in no way preachy. His beliefs are what make up his character and a part of him that cannot and should not be separated out.

I can’t wait to read the next two books in the series!

Armchair Interviews says: This is 5-star read for anyone who loves political suspense, secret government agencies, and uniquely gifted heroes!


Author Biography

Colonel Michael “Mike” Angley is the award-winning author of the Child Finder Trilogy. He retired from the Air Force in 2007 following a 25-year career as a Special Agent with the Office of Special Investigations (OSI). He held 13 different assignments throughout the world, among which were five tours as a Commander of various units, to include two Air Force Squadrons and a Wing. He is a seasoned criminal investigator and a counterintelligence and counterterrorism specialist. His debut novel, Child Finder, received the Silver Medal for Fiction in the 2009 Military Writers Society of America’s Annual Awards program. Child Finder features a USAF Special Agent protagonist, and it gets its inspiration from Angley’s long, multifaceted career.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Wendy Gillissen Pens New Fantasy

Title: Curse of the Tahiéra
Author: Wendy Gillissen
Publisher: Booklocker
Genre: fantasy
ISBN: 978-1601458391

Reviewer: Eric Jones for Book Review.com

Rating: Excellent

The review:

Though much of it takes place in a physical world of forests and stones, the real story of Gillissen’s protagonists, Rom, Yldich, and Eald who journey through enchanted lands northward, is one of kinship and illusion as they struggle to save their people from the destructive power of an entity known as the Tahiéra. Gillissen uses dreams the way that an artist might use watercolors to paint a vivid portrait. Her expressions are at once clear and beautiful as they are abstract and distant, eventually culminating in an ending revelation that is unforeseeable (unless, of course, you’ve “dreamwalked” through the story already).

Rom is haunted by “énthemae” dreams, or dreams of his past which reveal a power in him to confront the Tahiéra. As he learns these things throughout his journey, he becomes acquainted with “ayúrdimae” dreaming, or “dreamwalking”. “Curse of the Tahiéra” is full of mystical enchantments and riveting adventures, but it’s these particular facets which make it different from most other fantasy novels. Gillissen creates a dream world within a dream world; worlds inside of other worlds which are constantly in motion. It might seem complicated, but Gillissen handles them all like a well trained juggler, and the show is spectacular.

The only small caveat to “Curse of the Tahiéra” are the bevy of terms which are constantly used by her characters and can be difficult to discern, especially when some of them are as similar as “ayúrdimae” (which means “dreamwalking”) and “Alyúrimae” (which means “take him away”). Gillissen seems to have recognized this, and offers a handy glossary to make it easier, but looking up terms seems more like work than fun. Still, this never bogs down the novel to the point where it becomes a major issue, and definitely doesn’t get in the way of Gillissen’s flair for fantasy.

“Curse of the Tahiéra” achieves on nearly every level of excitement and entertainment that the genre of fantasy prescribes. It’s enlightening in its connection with real world values of love, honor, and camaraderie and on top of that, its great entertainment. Gillissen’s take on pixies, beasts, and other common fantasy figures is unique and revitalizing. Fantasy novels are all about the journey, and Gillissen is able to weave several into a single amazing voyage that is captivating from beginning to end.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

America's Film Vault: A Reference to READ

Below is a special review in a new series I'll be doing to honor those books that won the Military Writers Society of America's Silver award. I have a special place in my heart for them because my Tracings (Finishing Line Press) won that same award. So this is just a way to pass it forward, especiall for my fellows. (-:

AMERICA'S FILM VAULT: A Reference Guide to the Motion Pictures Held by the U.S. National Archives
ISBN 978-0-9793243-0-7
$39.95, trade paper, pms press, 2009
Series: Third book in The Historic Footage Project
By Phil Stewart


Reviewed by Ron Standerfer for Reader Views in April 09

Whatever happened to all those news reels we used to watch in the movie theaters when we were kids? Or those training films they made us watch when we were drafted or enlisted in the military? How about those carefully crafted films depicting life in America during the Twentieth Century; some dating back to early 1900s? I’m sure many of us would like to see them again just to see what life was like in those days. The good news is that many of those films are alive and well, tucked safely away in the care of the federal government. The bad news is that finding a specific film can be a difficult and frustrating task. Until now.

In one fell swoop, America’s Film Vault: A Reference Guide to the Motion Pictures Held by the U.S. National Archives, by award-winning author and film-sleuth Phillip W. Stewart has leveled the playing field for historians, film buffs, and curiosity seekers. How significant is his new book? Consider this: for the first time ever, the whereabouts of over 360,000 film reels that document a century of American and world history have been assembled in book form. As a matter of fact, it is safe to say that some of the best kept history secrets are buried deep within Stewart’s book.

Considering the scope of America’s Film Vault I expected the review copy to arrive on a hand truck bearing a book somewhere in size between the Manhattan telephone directory and the oldfashion dictionaries that sit perched on large walnut stands in the libraries. To my surprise, it was quite modest in size; about 280 pages. But what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for it in sheer volume of information it contains between the covers.

Finding a specific title amongst the 360,000 or so films listed is relatively simple. For ease of search, the book is divided into five sections: Civilian Films; Military Films, Donated Films, Title Index, and Subject Index. Each film section begins with an overview which provides general information concerning what type of films the searcher can expect to find there. Of the three film sections I found the Donated Film section to be the most fascinating, mainly because it contains a treasure trove of newsreels. The subjects of these newsreels vary from the mundane to stories of epic proportions. Here’s an example of the former that was filmed by Universal Newspaper Newsreel: “Runaway Train Plunges Down Mountain: New Castle, PA - 210,000 tons of coal spilled, 32 cars wrecked, but nobody is hurt. Some of the derailed cars hung on the edge of a steep embankment.”
Can’t you just picture this?

So far American Film Vault has been warmly received by those in the know. For example, according to William T. Murphy, former Chief of the Motion Picture, Sound, and Video Branch of the National Archives, America’s Film Vault is, “...a convenient overview of National Archives and Records Administration's motion picture holdings, one difficult to obtain from any other source.”

American Film Vault is the third book Phillip Stewart has written as part of The Historic Footage Project. You can learn more about this project by visiting his website. Meanwhile, I am prepared to accept the challenge he laid down on the cover of his book; namely, “If you’re ready to play detective, take a crack at the combination, and investigate the bowels of the vault, you need a guide map...and this is it! Discover “reel” treasures with “America’s Film Vault.” I can’t wait to get started.
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Phillip is also author of:
BATTLEFILM: U.S. Army Signal Corps Motion Pictures of the Great War
WAR WINGS: Films of the First Air War
PROJECTED HISTORY: A Catalog of the U.S. National Stories Released by Universal Newsreel, Volume One, 1929-1930
AMERICA'S FILM VAULT: A Reference Guide to the Motion Pictures Held Within the U.S. National Archives
PROJECTED HISTORY: A Catalog of the U.S. National Stories Released by Universal Newsreel, Volume Two, 1931-1932

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Ping Li's Program for Making the Universal Law of Attraction Work for You

Awakening: Fulfilling Your Soul's Purpose on Earth
By Ping Li
Publisher: Trafford Publishing; First Edition(August 15, 2009)
ISBN-10: 1425180558
ISBN-13: 978-1425180553

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Ping Li's newest book, Awakening: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Purpose On Earth, is an amazing guidebook to uncovering, exploring, and achieving your higher purpose in life, and the nourishment your soul needs. (And, in the process, achieving all your heart’s other desires!) What Ping Li has laid out in such easy-to follow fashion, is a 22-day process of daily mental exercises, journaling, and meditative journeys. Each day, you explore another aspect of spiritual development together…

As you progress through Li's simple steps, you can feel your spirit lifting, your daily burden lightening, confusion and depression dissipating, and nature’s Universal Laws of Attraction, Giving & Receiving, and Manifestation beginning to work in your favor to create the life you dream of.

You may want to visit Li's Web site, at: www.awakeningbooklaunch.com/bookpromo.html where you’ll find many glowing reports other readers have shared.

Ping’s own story, her transformation, has been both remarkable and inspiring. And the process she followed to turn her life around is precisely what she shares with you now in AWAKENING: Fulfilling Your Soul’s Purpose On Earth.

You may be able to tell that I believe in the principles that Li espouses in her book. They work for me and I believe they will work for everyone who opens their hearts and minds to them.

Book Launch Special

Just in case a 22-day program to put you on the fast track to attracting the best in life isn't enough to encourage you to take this leap, Li's friends and colleagues have banded together to make the official launch of her book a hugely over-the-top success for her AND for you by offering over $7500 in bonus gifts just for buying the book!

Or visit Li's page at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Fulfilling-souls-purpose-earth/dp/1425180558/


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Paranormal Romance Just Released by Victoria Roder

The Dream House Visions And Nightmares
Victoria Roder
Paranormal Romance
ISBN 978-1-934337-64-6
Asylett Press
4 bricks out of 5

Reviewed by Bea Ware for Writers Wall, Valerie J. Patterson forhttp://valeriejpatterson.wordpress.com:80/

When I sat down to read Dream House—Visions and Nightmares, the debut novel by Victoria Roder, I expected a book full of ghosts and attempts at spine-tingling scenes. What Roder actually delivers is a taut story with an ending only the most attentive of readers will figure out prior to reading the final chapters.

Roder strategically introduces characters, allowing the reader to gradually learn their significance. This prevents information overload, but also affords Roder the opportunity to develop multifaceted characters the reader comes to either care about or despise. Every good book has a villain, but Roder offers up more than one—and they all have their place artfully etched out in the plot.

The book opens with Hope Graham fighting off sleep and losing the battle. Nightmares plague her. Horrible, unsettling nightmares. The lack of sleep and plentiful nightmares begin to intrude on Hope’s waking hours, causing her boss at the resource center where she works to issue the ultimatum: Get it together or get out. After one nightmare too many, Hope calls her sister, Samantha and, at 3 in the morning, decides she’s going back home to Sheboygan where her sister still lives and where the house of her dreams can be found.

Hope begins to unravel the purpose of the haunting nightmares by investigating the house those nightmares center around. With a little bit of help from her sister and a lot of help from the locals, Hope not only uncovers history about the house, but she unearths secrets that force her to dig deep into her own past and confront the very real nightmare she lived through as a child.

The sunshine in the darkness of the plot comes in the form of very sexy bakery owner, Brock Cooper. Brock offers Hope all the things her ex-husband couldn’t: romance, friendship, support, encouragement, tenderness, understanding, and love. He’s her sounding board, her confidant, and her romance when she needs a break from the intense mystery surrounding her dream house. Roder holds back and successfully allows the romance to slowly blossom between these two, which is refreshing given the fact this is not a romance, but rather a paranormal thriller that serves up a happily ever after in spite of the odds against it happening.

Hope also finds an ally in the elderly busybody living across the road from the dream house. Ida is full of knowledge, but is not as forthcoming as Hope—or this reader—wants her to be. Instead, Ida has a foresight most people wished they had, and there’s a purpose for disclosing information slowly. Hope’s on a voyage of self-discovery and too much information too soon not only makes for a short book, but would defeat what Roder obviously worked so hard to combine into one exciting, unpredictable plot.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Rebecca Foust Pens Poetry of the Midwest

Mom’s Canoe
By Rebecca Foust
Poetry
Texas Review Press
ISBN-13 Number: 9781933896274
ISBN-10 Number: 1933896272

Rebecca Foust’s award-winning chapbook, Mom’s Canoe, is concerned largely with the rural landscape and the poet’s family’s place in that landscape and its history. Indeed, one of the book’s later poems, “Altoona to Anywhere,” seems to echo the sentiments of the titular poem in Cottle’s book: that one can never erase one’s history.

Go ahead, aspire to transcend
Your hardscrabble roots, bootstrap
The life you dream on,
Escape the small-minded tyranny
Of your small-minded Midwestern
Coalmining town.

But when you’ve left it behind you
May find it still there, in your dreams,
Your syntax, the smell of your hair,
Its real smell, under the shampoo.
Beware DNA; it will out or be outed
And you’ll find yourself back
Where you started…

The Midwest is in Foust’s DNA, and the long shadows of this large and varied region infuse all of the poems in her deceptively slim chapbook, whether they discuss the people of Altoona, Iowa (including members of Foust’s family) or the beautiful, often mysterious landscape. Mom’s Canoe is a celebration of this region as well as a history of Foust’s family and the region in which they dwell.

In many ways, Foust works like an archaeologist to excavate her region and her place within it. She does so somewhat literally in “Fossil Record,” in which she moves from discussing trilobites and ammonites resting in layers of prehistoric soil to the fetus waiting inside a womb and the bones inside a woman beneath an x-ray.

In “Archeological Record” (here reproduced in full), she considers another cross-section: one replete with imagery of the Midwest as well as classical mythology. Like any good archaeologist, Foust then attempts to weave these elements into a story—an impressionistic one to be sure, but a story nonetheless that speaks of loss and hidden grief.

Scotch straight-up, thy neighbor’s
wife and Sunday Church
—Nobody’s talking

but one white glove is lost.
What was said, and not. Gaps
outline the years laid down

in stone, but each wedged-in bit
is rocking. Dreams, cookbook
notes, the dress a mother wore

to a father’s wake, or would
have worn—had she gone?
The shards meet to make

a pot you haven’t seen before.
The walls are half-effaced,
but Zeus is raping some girl

somewhere, you know that
much. It’s all here—battle,
faun, flash of dawn, grapes

twined into leafy crowns,
each loved thing lost, sieved
with bitter salt and ash.

Foust is not always so indirect in her “digging” into Midwestern life, however. In poems such as “The Dream,” “Books for the Blind,” “Kinship of Family” and, of course, the collection’s titular piece she writes about her family’s place in this land—her mother’s tears (of joy and apprehension) upon discovering a pregnancy; her grandmother’s blindness; her parents’ deaths; the distance between two sisters who were once very close. These are poems, at times, of “bitter salt and ash,” as is the case with “Backwoods,” in which Foust describes her mother’s return to an abusive second husband.

“How could you,” she asks

After he blackened
your eye,
dumb-bitched you
and wrecked your canoe?

You escaped from that place once,
his cottage collapsed
on the banks of that dirty, dredged ditch
he calls a river; all you needed was a car
where you could sleep, keep your things.

But of course, no region is all bitterness and bleakness, even the most hardscrabble one. In other poems, such as “Mom’s Canoe,” family and landscape meld together elegiacly, and even a memory of a mother’s death is transformed into something as beautiful and breathtaking as it is sad.

I still see you rising from water to sky,
paddle held high,
river drops limning its edge.
Brown diamonds catch the light as you lift, then dip.
Parting the current, you slip
silently through the evening shadows.
You, birdsong, watersong, slanting light,
following river bend, swallowed from sight.

Foust’s language and imagery, as the reader has probably by now divined, are as challenging as they are startling, and the reader who wants to follow her through her narratives would be well advised to consider and reconsider each poem, each phrase as an archaeologist reconsiders sand, bone and fragment. But patience is well-rewarded. Mom’s Canoe is a subtle and sometimes painful evocation of the Midwest, an example of a regional voice that transcends its boundaries, achieving universal apppeal.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Louisiana Alba Pens Cross Genre Novel Authors Will Find Familiar--And Not Familiar

UNCORRECTED PROOF a novel by Louisiana Alba
Genre: literary/thriller
Paperback: 312 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9558676-0-6 
B
ElephantEars Press, 9780955867606, 2008 UK

Originally Reviewed by Angela Meyer for LiteraryMinded


Can something be playfully and overtly postmodern and still be readable – driving you through a compelling plot? Louisiana Alba proves it can be done.

Uncorrected Proof is a postmodern novel that entertainingly riffs on form, style, character, tense, person – but with an overall thriller/quest type plot appropriation, it folds you into its delicious bizarro metascapes and humorous oft-satirical, oft-homagical visions.

Somehow Alba (if that’s who she really is… death of the author etc.) incorporates stylistic elements of hard-boiled fiction, screenplays, cookbooks, metafiction, the spy novel, cyberpunk, the literary novel, A Clockwork Orange, Gaelic, intertextuality, memoir, and so much more in a book that self-consciously satirises the entire book and publishing industry – authors, editors, publishers – literary
celebrity, literary delusions, literary snobbery, literary stupidity and so on.

So what’s this book about? Archie’s novel manuscript has been pilfered and plagiarized by Martyn Varginas, prolific mystery writer. Archie and his friend Cal plot a convoluted revenge through Archie getting work as an editor, and employing a re-plagiarisation of the book by a young hired-gun (or pen, as it were). What follows are kidnappings, political intrigues, sex, jaunts to New York and
Paris (from London), stake-outs, party crashings, a couple of book launches, boardroom drunkenness, author cameo appearances, mean streets, cop/spy banter, and a few disturbing murders.

I was completely absorbed in this book – somehow Alba makes it so easy to read, despite the switcheroos in style, and shifts in narrative drive and character motivation. The book’s title Uncorrected Proof displays irony – those not in bookselling or publishing may be unfamiliar with a ‘proof copy’ or ‘uncorrected proof’ – books that become available before release, oft-unedited versions of the
final with spacing, grammatical and typing errors. This ‘published’ book, has a few (tongue-in-cheek) placed throughout.

Alba has worked in publishing, and is actually avoiding traditional distribution methods for the book, keeping in the uber-hip underground spirit of the novel – with a well-handled guerilla internet and out-of-hand distribution system. I came across the author through Facebook.

This book proves to me that extraordinary talent can be represented through shunning traditional publishing methods. This book is inventive, imaginative, and inspiring. It is a unique publication. If you enjoy Italo Calvino or John Fowles, or if you also work or have worked in the book industry, even on the fringes, you would get a great kick out of this novel.

There’s an amazing offer at the moment on the ElephantEars Press website. Postage on Uncorrected Proof FREE to any destination!

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Fearing Fear Itself: Jacqueline Wales Pens Self-Help Book

Title – The Fearless Factor
Author – Jacqueline Wales
Genre or category - Self help
ISBN - 978-0979859816

Overview

The Fearless Factor is a timely the new self-help book from in –demand speaker and entrepreneur Jacqueline Wales. This guide helps women move from “stuck in fear” to “moving forward” with practical and inspirational advice on seizing the life they want – and know they deserve!

Packed full of stories from the trenches, and insight from women around the world who have “been there, done that”, The Fearless Factor is a must-have for women who are ready to confront their fears and move on to the next stage of living.

Using the jungle of life as her framework, Wales takes readers through the process of facing their biggest fears, whether they be related to money, relationships, career, age or motherhood, and gives prescriptive ways to overcome those fears and succeed in life.

From learning how to dump emotional baggage that is useless and potentially dangerous to succeeding at stepping away from needing jobs or people to fill them up, readers can learn to detach, let go, and trust their own instincts for what is good for them.

Fear dominates headlines, drives decisions, and can prevent readers from achieving true happiness in everyday life. The Fearless Factor teaches them to face their fears head on and take control of their future.

About the Author:

What can you learn from a former alcoholic, mother of four, author, singer and global nomad who earned a black belt in karate at age 49, has performed in front of thousands of people, and developed a system to help people go beyond the fears, doubts and anxieties that hold their lives in limitation instead of abundance? - Plenty!

A lifelong adventurer, Wales began her motivational career on the tenement steps of her building at age 9 giving advice to the neighborhood children. After a few detours she began singing at age 40, writing at age 41(currently five books) and at 43 she took up martial arts. At 49 she had earned a red belt in Tai Kwon Do and a black belt in Shotokan karate. Who says life begins at 40!

She also sang in front of thousands of people as a lay-cantor for synagogues in Paris and Amsterdam, and recorded an album of original material. At 54, Jacqueline decided she wanted to go into business and began her first motivational company Fearless Fifties which later reinvented to The Fearless Factor which later became a best-selling book. Jacqueline has been a global nomad for over forty years and has lived on three continents and six cities including London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam, New York and Bali.

By applying the skills she learned in over thirty years of making change in her own life, Wales has gone on to achieve remarkable success after a lifetime of overcoming the odds and has successfully made the leap from author and mother to being an extraordinary force in the women’s self-help movement, dedicated to helping others achieve their goals. For more information on Jacqueline go to www.thefearlessfactor.com She presently lives in New York.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Religious Fiction from Kenneth Weene

Title: Widow's Walk
Author: Kenneth Weene
Genre: Religious Fiction, Romance
ISBN: ISBN 13: 978-0-9840984-2-2
ISBN: 0-9840984-2-9
Publisher: All Things That Matter Press



Widow’s Walk is a story of faith and its effects on already flawed characters. Set in Boston in the 1980s, it is the story of Mary Flanagan and her children, Sean and Kathleen. Mary’s husband, Sean, Sr., died at the wheel of his M.T.A. bus. Her son, Sean, Jr. is a quadriplegic, injured on his way to a brothel in Vietnam; Kathleen, divorced and unable to have children, works and lives at a hospice that primarily serves AIDS patients; there she lives a mechanistically faithful life, but one devoid of belief. This unhappy family structure is erected on the bedrock stoicism of Mary’s Irish Catholicism. It is that faith which is tested, changed, and strangely reaffirmed over the course of the tale.

Two events upend Mary’s world. The first is her friend’s, Lois’s, move to Florida. The second is Sean’s decision to seek rehabilitation in a center in Minnesota – a decision initiated by Jem, a home health aide whose own life reflects a faith of care and service.

Mary finds herself looking for new meaning and direction in her life. In the process she meets two unexpected people, Arnie Berger, a college professor, an agnostic or perhaps deistic Jew, and love interest, and Pat Michaels, a minister, whose view of a joyous faith is much at odds with Mary’s rigid theology. She also moves into a housing share and becomes friends with Amelia Callaghan, the misanthropic house owner.

Sean’s life, too, is dramatically changed because he falls in love with and marries one of the aides at the rehab center. He returns to Boston married, employed and expecting their first child.

Given the remarkable changes in her mother’s and brother’s lives and influenced by Max, one of her dying patients and a man whose story and faith are powerful and unique, Kathleen also seeks love. She meets Danny, a young man tied to his overprotective mother and unable to deal with his own feelings of inadequacy.

Sadly, Kathleen and Danny’s relationship ends in disaster, rape, and abuse. Danny flees. In her own way, Kathleen does too; she becomes catatonic and dependant.

Mary unable to come to terms with her sense of guilt and responsibility towards her daughter – is powerless to keep those feelings from coming between her and Arnie.

We will not share the end. You will want to know.

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Weene is offering a couple of giveaways to people who visit his stops along the tour route and leave comments. *The first is his poetry book which will go to a few different commenters. The second giveaway is a copy of his book Widow's Walk to one lucky commenter

Winners will be drawn at random from all those who leave comments along the tour.

For more specifics on the individual books, visit the full tour schedule for details: http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/07/widows-walk-by-kenneth-weene-virtual.html


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Penny Piva Reviews Foodie Cozy Mystery

Murder Takes the Cake
Author: Gayle Trent
Publisher: Bell Bridge Books
Murder Takes the Cake Book Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGnKwHYlPCQ
Blog: Fatal Foodies (http://fatalfoodies.blogspot.com)


Penny Piva, blogger at Sweet Brown Poison http://sweetbrownpoison.blogspot.com/, says, "Through the magic of the Mighty Mighty Internets, I found Gayle Trent. Not that she was lost, but she was out there, floating around. The Google and I caught her. I can't remember how. My powers are strong, but my mind isn't.

"But I found her and that's all that matters. Her cozy mystery, Murder Takes the Cake is all the deliciousness I could possibly want in a book. Cake. Good plot. Wacky family. Did I mention cake?

"And! Gayle is a kindred spirit. Come on...loves cake decorating...and who do we know who went to pastry school? Gets her magical powers from DC...like someone else you know...

You're going to love her as much as you love me--and I KNOW that's a LOT!!!"

Here's what she has to say about the book:

Yodel Watson was dead. And some people blamed my spice cake.

When the meanest gossip in Brea Ridge dies mysteriously, suspicions turn to cake decorator Daphne Martin. But all Daphne did was deliver a spice cake with cream cheese frosting--and find Yodel's body. Now Daphne's got to help solve the murder and clear her good name. Problem is, her Virginia hometown is brimming with people who had good reason to kill Yodel, and Daphne's whole family is among them."

Murder Takes the Cake will soon be released by Thorndike in a large-print library edition, and an English large-print publisher--BBC Audiobooks--has also secured rights to the book. The second book in the Daphne Martin Series--Dead Pan--will be released in November of 2009.

Always Keepers Press, a new Knoxville-based audio book publisher, will be releasing Between A Clutch and A Hard Place, a now out-of-print book written in 2005, in February of 2010.

The first book in her latest mystery series, a cozy embroidery mystery tentatively titled The Quick and The Thread, will be released by NAL/Penguin under the pen name Amanda Lee in August of 2010.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Barbara Becker Holstein Offers Fictional Diary for Girls and Young Women

This isn't really a review but it struck a chord with me. Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein has written a charming little book for young women. Written as a 10-year old girl’s diary, it is a treasure for kids and adults alike because it reminds us of what it’s like to be ten. I thought this might be the perfect book for my grandaughters and that I should pass the information to you.


The book is The Truth (I’m a Girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!) .

The author has many years of practicing as a positive psychologist. She believes women can draw tremendous energy and vitality from their deepest and most precious well - themselves. Yes, inside of ourselves are the positive memories from late childhood into teens, the talents, the strengths, and the untapped potential to give us all the resources we need.

She says, "Girls between 8 and 12 can and do everything. However, adolescence can be very hard on girls and years later many a woman has lost touch with her earlier talents, strengths, potential or what makes her happy. I worked to develop a companionship with the 10-year old inside myself. Suddenly, getting to know myself as a child again was serious psychological business.

"That’s when I wrote a journal-style book, The Truth (I’m a Girl, I’m Smart and I Know Everything!) . If you are a woman, it will make you want to dance with your inner 10-year old and make her energies a part of yourself again. If you are an adult, you will see the child in your life in a much more profound light. You will want to help her hold on to her wisdom, wit, sense of competency and self-esteem. If you are a kid or a ‘tween, you will feel understood and connected to this fictional girl. After all, she is like you. The girl sees so much and knows so much as we all did at 10 or 11. And wouldn't it be great to hold on to the energy and confidence that can go with that stage of life?"

Truth is available on Amazon and those who buy it will also receive nearly $6,500 in free downloadable gifts! Check it out here: http://tinyurl.com/m8ooto

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Pistonhead More Than Hot Rock 'n' Roll

Pistonheadby Thomas A. Hauck
Fiction
Published by something.hot communications
Publication date: February 1, 2009
Paperback: $12.95, 174 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60145-744-8


Sometimes you cannot judge a book by its cover. At first glance, Pistonhead appears to be yet another entry into the tedious and predictable genre of rock ‘n roll debauchery tell-all category, where the protagonist struggles to become a star, takes too many drugs, divorces his wife, and ends up older and wiser and very rich.

This concise novel, which you can read in one afternoon, chronicles two weeks in the life of Charlie Sinclair, an aspiring Boston rock musician who would not know a limousine if it ran him down in the street. He is one of the hundreds of thousands of struggling artists in America, the ones who still work day jobs and live in mice-infested apartments and eat cold cereal for breakfast before going off to a factory job at eight in the morning.

Pistonhead covers a lot of ground in its refreshingly slender format. The characters are front and center. We meet Charlie’s drug-addled lead singer, Rip; the band’s hapless manager Louie; the cynical concert promoter; the lusty ex-girlfriend; the lustier art student who is making an artsy sex video; the nun who tries to recruit Charlie to sing for her Sunday school class; and Lisa, his enigmatic love interest. The scenes with the Mass Rehab clients in the factory are poignant and occasionally horrifying, as when Roger confides to Charlie that Satan has taken over the body of one of his co-workers.

What ties the novel together is theme of success, and how we define it. When the book opens we assume that Charlie defines success by the usual criteria of the number of patrons crammed into the Big Ditch Club or the number of radio stations playing Pistonhead songs. But a tragedy forces Charlie to take stock of his life and he comes to understand what is most important to him—and it’s not necessarily how many CDs the band can sell.

Pistonhead is an American journey that encompasses, in a concise package, themes that resonate with the flow of our culture as we enter the twenty-first century. Because in the end Charlie makes do with much less, but in many ways his life has become richer, with greater possibilities than before.


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Linda Ballou Researches Hawai'i and Pens Book about W ai-nani

W ai-nani, High Chiefess of Hawai'i:Her Epic Journey
Author, Linda Ballou
Publisher: StarPublishLLC
ISBN: 10:1-932993-88-6
ISBN: 13:978-1-932993-88-2

Reviewed by Sofia Steryo-Bartmus for Amazon


Wai-nani tells the story between the first High Chiefess of Hawaii ,and the fierce, great warrior and magnificent ruler, Makaha, who unified the Hawaiian islands in the late 18th Century. Wai-nani emerges as a young, beautiful, strong, powerful and "Free-Spirited" modern woman in an ancient society. She is a woman before her time, who rose to a position (Kuhina-Nui) no other had risen before her, and one who helped bring about changes that elevated the status of women. She loves the sea and her dolphin friends, where she finds peace, solitude and comfort from the harsh traditions imposed on her and her people. She defies the 'kapu' (taboos) of the time and wishes and vows one day to see the savage ways of the long ago lifted, where men and women can sit together and share their joys and troubles without the fear of the death dealing Kahuna.

Linda Ballou has done extensive research on the history of the characters and Hawaii, and gives the reader blow by blow details in a flowery, poetic and interesting language. She manages to intertwine a love story with historical fact and has done a superb job. She narrates the story through Wai-nani's eyes and experiences, and she makes it all come alive for the reader. I found myself transported into an ancient world where human sacrifices were common and where people were put to death for disobeying the laws. I felt as if I was present in the lives of the common people, the warriors and the royal families of the time, as well as in the midst of the lush valleys and beautiful sand beaches and mountains of the Islands.

Although this is a story of the past, Linda manages to bring out the human emotions, feelings and struggles of the present in all of us, which transcend times and cultures. I found the book educational and very entertaining. Make sure you look up the glossary at the end of the book before you get started, it will make it easier to follow the unfamiliar words, names and places of the Hawaiian culture.
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Reviewer Sofia Steryo-Bartmus is author of: Paws of Wisdom , valuable lessons we can learn from our pet

W ai-nani, High Chiefess of Hawai'i:Her Epic Journey
is available on www.Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle edition and for a signed copy and free shipping go to www.LindaBallouAuthor.com


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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Carolyn Myss Reviews Book That Will Liberate You from Negative Emotions

Title – Emotional Freedom
Author – Dr Judith Orloff
Genre or category – Self help, personal transformation
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Harmony; First Edition edition (March 3, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0307338181


Book Review by Caroline Myss


EMOTIONAL FREEDOM: Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life (Harmony, $24) written by Judith Orloff MD is the perfect book to come along at the perfect time. I couldn’t put it down!

We live in a tumultuous, fear-dominated period in history and must become masters at overcoming fear and other negative emotions so they don’t sabotage our power. With skill and compassion, Dr. Judith Orloff shows us how to become heroes in our own lives by transforming anger, loneliness, and envy and more rather than simply “reacting” when our buttons get pushed.

An Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and intuition expert, Dr. Orloff shares her wealth of personal and professional knowledge to illuminate the field of emotions. She draws on wisdom from traditional medicine but goes light years beyond it by presenting emotions as a path to spiritual, energetic, and intuitive awakening. Why is this leap so important? The intellect has restricted vision about emotions, but bringing intuition into the feeling realm lets us go deeper within. Dr. Orloff asks us to see every success, every heartbreak, every loss, every gain as vehicles for transformation. She teaches readers to view emotions in a non-ordinary way, rather than simply making you happy or miserable. Everyone will benefit from the insightful instructions that continually guide us and also from the author’s intimate personal journey and well-earned life wisdom. Judith is the kind of doctor we wish we all had.

Part One of the book introduces you to the four components of emotions: their biology, spirituality, energetic power, and psychology. Understanding each component in yourself will lead to inner breakthroughs that aren’t possible without seeing the whole picture. It offers a self-assessment test to evaluate your current level of emotional freedom so you can increase it practicing this book’s principles. Dr. Orloff invites you into her romance with sleep and dreams as revolutionary states of consciousness. She also helps readers determine their “emotional type” including “the intellectual,” and “the empath. “so they can make the most of their own finest qualities. As an empath, Dr. Orloff knows the gigantic challenges of being an “emotional sponge” and teaches other empaths who’ve been labeled “overly sensitive” how to stay grounded in an often-overwhelming world.

You’ll enjoy the “emotional vampire survival guide”--specific advice for dealing with emotional drainers. We’ve all met them. You’re talking to someone, when suddenly you feel anxious, depressed, or tired. She describes the narcissist, the victim, the controller, and other types of vampires. Plus, there are quizzes to help you determine “Are you in a relationship with an emotional vampire?” or if you might be one yourself. Sometimes, we all have the capacity to be draining, but with mindful compassion we can catch ourselves early and make a shift.

Part Two of the book offers a hands-on approach for facing the most prevalent negative emotions and building positive ones Each chapter is called a “transformation” in which you learn how to transform a negative emotion into its counterpoint. For instance, fear is transformed with courage, frustration with patience, and jealousy with self-esteem.

You learn to do this in your life by taking a wealth of quizzes, from Dr. Orloff’s patient studies, and her own intimate journey with each emotion.

Emotional Freedom is the rare book that can open your mind and your heart to more empowerment. Give yourself a gift and read it.

SPECIAL OFFER! Purchase a copy of Emotional Freedom with 100 bonus gifts from Dr. Michael Beckwith, Dr. Christiane Northrup, Shirley MacLaine and more at Judith Orloff MD is at http://www.drjudithorloff.com/emotional-freedom-promotion/
or www.drjudithorloff.com


The reviewer, Caroline Myss, is a pioneer in the fields of intuition and mysticism and bestselling author of Anatomy of the Spirit.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR: National bestselling author Judith Orloff MD presents new solutions for dealing with emotions in our hyper-tense world. She invites you to take a remarkable journey, one that leads to happiness, serenity, and a mastery over negativity that pervades daily life. You possess the ability to liberate yourself from worry, anger, and fear. True emotional freedom is closer than you think.
About Judith Orloff, MD

Transforming the face of psychiatry, Judith Orloff, MD is an assistant clinical professor of Psychiatry at UCLA and author of the new international bestseller Emotional Freedom. She synthesizes the pearls of traditional medicine with cutting edge knowledge of intuition, energy, and spirituality to achieve physical and emotional healing. She passionately asserts that we have the power to transform negative emotions and achieve inner peace. She offers practical strategies to overcome frustration, stress, and worry and teaches people how to quiet overactive minds that won’t shut off.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

San Francisco Poet's New Work Published

A Dreamer’s Guide to Cities
By Joan Felfand
Published by San Francisco Bay Press
Publication Date: January 6, 2009
Paperback: $ 14.99, 74 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60461-009-3


From a review in Poetica



Expect the unexpected. In her latest collection of poetry, A Dreamer’s Guide to Cities and Streams, Joan Gelfand stuns the reader with her range of forms and styles. Whether Haiku, or Villanelle, lyric or rap, rhymed or narrative, the poems in this collection are suffused with her marvelous visual acuity, her ear for today’s language, her keen observations of the here and now.


A songwriter, producer, essayist and community organizer, Joan Gelfand is also the recipient of the Chaffin Fiction Award in 2005 for “Paris Blues Redux”. Joan’s story, “The Art Critic” was shortlisted for the Carver Prize. Her work has been published on the web and in numerous literary magazines around the world, including The New York Times Magazine, Poet’s & Writers and Vanity Fair and in a variety of anthologies. She currently serves as President of the Women’s National Book Association and also as judge of Poetica Magazine’s Annual Chapbook Competition.


A review of her 2006 collection entitled, “Seeking Center”, described her work thus: “That these edgy poems avoid sentimentality is a testimony not only to Ms. Gelfand’s metronomic irregularity - her insistence that meaning is primary - but to the sharp, jagged, always intelligent quality of her awareness.” This apt description holds true of her newest collection as well .Just when you think you have her pigeonholed, she confronts you with the unexpected: words laid bare as she drops the definite article, interrupts a line with slashes, or shifts moods from playful (another one of her talents) to profound.


Gelfand’s affinity with nature is matched by her anger and regret of how we treat our planet: In "Requiem for a Dying World," she writes:


“The taste for cash replaces
The taste for something gorgeous”


In Golden Gate, she begins with a lyric description of the landscape:


“Knife edged hills laid leisurely, deceiving”, surprises us with “But for me, the languorous red swipe taunts,” and leaves us with the haunting,
“Sometimes, distance is greater than the space
Between two points.”


A Dreamer’s Guide to Cities and Streams is an outstandingly rich, multilayered collection that rewards the reader with new meanings and nuances at every reading. And you will want to read these poems again and again.

To all of you book lovers, stop by Stories Books & Cafe, 1716 Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles on Friday, September 11th, 8 PM, to hear poet Joan Gelfand. California Poet Laureate Al Young had these words to say about Joan's work. "...Joan Gelfand’s poems vibrate, shudder or take flight, roaring and purring to safe and not so safe landings in the heart, in the gut. Readers, beware. This is powerful stuff.”

September 11th, 8 PM
http://www.storiesla.com/
1716 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90026 (213) 413 3733

Joan Gelfand’s work has been published in over fifty national and regional publications. Her first book of poetry, Seeking Center: A Collection of Poems has been described by author Jane Swigart as “exquisite and breathtaking…reaching those secret places where we all overlap and long for validation.” Joan works as an arts administrator, organizing panels and readings at colleges and writer’s conferences around the Bay Area. Since 2004, she has been involved with the Women’s National Book Association, an organization with nine chapters and over 800 members. She is currently serving as President. Joan serves on the Advisory boards of booksbywomenforwomen.com and Poetica Magazine. An alumna both of the creative writing programs at San Francisco State University and Mills College, Joan is married to Adam Hertz, a web 2.0 entrepreneur.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.