Book Review - Ghellow Road - T.H Waters

Title:      Ghellow Road

Author:   T.H. Waters

Review:  This book is well written, it keeps you reading even when you have other things to do.  The story captivated me from the very beginning and I was pulled in completely.  The authors’ writing has an amazing flow that keeps you from putting it down.  I cried, I laughed, my heart broke for Theresa and I wanted nothing more than for her mother to get better and start caring for her family, even though I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

In college and right after wards, I worked with the mentally Ill.  My husband and I managed apartments for those well enough to live on their own with a bit of supervision.  We would look out the window and see a group of six or more smoking while sitting around the picnic table.  They were all talking and caring on long conversations, yet none of them were conversing with each other only with the voices in their own heads.  Their stories were varied as they were, but they all broke my heart.  Being cured was not an option, only the hope that the new medicine would work longer then the last one.

I loved this book and the author did an amazing job of putting you into her life.  I wanted her to be happy, I wanted her family to be whole again and I wanted her to know that she was loved.  Her mother loved her; she just could not get healthy enough to show it very often.  Beautifully written, moving and something I will be thinking about for awhile to come.

Maybe you don’t like stories about the mentally ill, but this is one everyone should read.  It is not their fault, it is an illness that has no cure only medications that can ease the symptoms for awhile.   Hearing voices has got to be one of the most difficult thing for them, how do you ignore something that is screaming in your head?

Everyone should read this book.  You will find a new way of seeing mental illness, those that suffer from it and the families and friends who love them.  I loved this book, and I thank the author for sending it.  As with all my reviews I have received no compensation and I do not know the author.

Publisher:  Published October 14th 2010 by Verefor Publishing Company LLC

Copyright: 2010

Pages:  302

ISBN: 0982893116

Quick Review:  5 Stars out of 5.  Read this book.

Why I Read it:  The author was looking for reviewers and the book interested me.

Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent by the author.

Synopsis:  Ghellow Road is a literary diary of a young girl's journey through the tangled labyrinth that is her life. Theresa's story begins in a large Midwestern city where she is born to loving parents in 1965. For a brief moment in time, her life is full, as is her heart, and the world is hers to receive without consequence. As time passes and Theresa grows, supernatural forces begin to shape her existence, no matter how carefully her father colors the empty spaces of her world. After a series of tragic events, Theresa and her family seek refuge in a small Minnesota town nestled near the shores of Rainy Lake. She creates a new life for herself there, sharing adventures with friends and riding the ups and downs of adolescence. Yet through it all, her mother remains forever lost in the prison of her own mind and forever lost to Theresa. The young girl feels as though she is leading a double life, one that no one else could possibly understand. She begins to peer at the world as if looking through a thick, black veil, never certain which pieces are illusion and which are not. Through the kindness and support of the townspeople, She eventually summons the strength to survive. This is a story of tragedy and triumph. This is the story of my life.

Author Biography:  I was raised in the state of Minnesota and currently reside in Minneapolis with my significant other and two loving kitty cats. I have always been a life-long lover of the written word. I love the magic of it, the mystique; I love the breadth of it and how it can fortify one’s spirit. I didn’t grow up imagining that I would one day become an author. In fact, I never even considered it until about 8 years ago when I received news that my brother had died suddenly. He was only 39 years old. It was one of the saddest days of my life. Numb and in shock, I picked up a pen and some paper, sat down at my dining room table and, with tears streaming down my face, I wrote his eulogy. A few more years would pass before my significant other encouraged me to take my passion for writing and use it to create my life’s story, Ghellow Road. My book is written from the heart, and I hope it will move you in some way… All my best, T.H. Waters

Other Reviews:

Two Readers Review

Missy's Booknook

Dragonfly

Happy Memorial Day

Free Tess Gerritsen Short Story for the Kindle

Currently Amazon and Tess Gerritsen have a free pre-order for a Rizzoli & Isles short story for the Kindle.

The description from Amazon:

In this free Rizzoli & Isles short story from New York Times bestselling author Tess Gerritsen, author of The Silent Girl, a bizarre death comes with a supernatural twist. Homicide cop Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles have seen their fair share of mortal crimes, but the death of Kimberly Rayner may qualify as inhuman in more ways than one. When corpse of the emaciated seventeen-year-old girl is discovered next to an empty coffin in an abandoned church, mysterious bruises around the throat suggest foul play. Caught fleeing the scene is the victim’s closest friend, Lucas Henry, an equally skeletal, pale teenager who claims he’s guilty only of having a taste for blood—a craving he shared with Kimberly. But the victim’s distraught father doesn’t believe in vampires, only vengeance. And now, another life may be at risk unless Rizzoli and Isles can uncover the astonishing truth. Includes a special preview of Tess Gerritsen’s new Rizzoli & Isles novel, The Silent Girl, on sale July 5.

Releases on May 31st

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

Remember those who died to keep us free, and have a great start to the summer of 2011. Maybe even finish that book you keep meaning to get to. Thanks to our Veterans out there and those we miss everyday.

Book Review - City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

Since the Splash Into Summer Blog Hop is going on we will skip the ARC Friday Giveaway, check out the Hop Giveaway here.

Title: City of Fallen Angels (#4 in the mortal instruments series)

Author: Cassandra Clare

Review: This is a great series.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first three books. To be honest though, I didn’t think it needed a fourth. It seemed to wrap up nicely at the end of the third book. When I found out there actually was a fourth book I decided I had to read it to find out what on earth could happen.

Clare continues the adventure by following Simon and his transition (or lack thereof) into a vampire. We get a little more depth into his character and what he is going through as opposed to Clary who has been the title character from the beginning. The adventures continue as Simon gets himself into a predicament that involves endangering those he loves. Jace and Clary have their own problems but they are intertwined with Simon’s and it goes to show that if people would just talk to each other then everything could easily be solved, or at least avoided.  This book didn’t disappoint as it kept me on my toes and I actually pulled over the car on the way to pick up my children and finished the book on the side of the road because I couldn’t wait any longer. I thought it was the perfect ending until the last two pages where Clare pulled the old switcheroo and gave us a surprise cliffhanger ending. Cassandra Clare is a wonderful writer who has roped me into reading another of her books whenever book number five actually comes out.

Publisher: Published April 5th 2011 by Margaret K. McElderry

ISBN: 1442403543

Copyright: 2011

Pages: 424

Quick Review: 4 out of 5 stars.  Good book that continues the saga of the Mortal instruments.  

Why I Read It: I’ve read the other books in this series and wanted to see what happens next.

Where I Obtained the Book: My awesome sister in law sent me a signed copy!

Synopsis: City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever.

Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels.

Author Biography: Cassandra Clare was born to American parents in Teheran, Iran and spent much of her childhood travelling the world with her family, including one trek through the Himalayas as a toddler where she spent a month living in her father’s backpack. She lived in France, England and Switzerland before she was ten years old. Since her family moved around so much she found familiarity in books and went everywhere with a book under her arm. She spent her high school years in Los Angeles where she used to write stories to amuse her classmates, including an epic novel called “The Beautiful Cassandra” based on a Jane Austen short story of the same name (and which later inspired her current pen name).

After college, Cassie lived in Los Angeles and New York where she worked at various entertainment magazines and even some rather suspect tabloids where she reported on Brad and Angelina’s world travels and Britney Spears’ wardrobe malfunctions. She started working on her YA novel, City of Bones, in 2004, inspired by the urban landscape of Manhattan, her favourite city. She turned to writing fantasy fiction full time in 2006 and hopes never to have to write about Paris Hilton again.

Other Reviews:

Teen Bookaholic

Splash of our Worlds

Novel Thoughts

A big Thank you to our guest Blogger Heather for this review.

Book Review - Doctor Confidential - Richard Sheff

Title:      Doctor Confidential

Author:   Richard Sheff

Review:  This book was fast to read and it kept my interest with the stories of his life in medicine.  I especially enjoyed the idea he presented about the fact that you could Doctor all the time and never have time left for anything else.  He let us know that you are the only one who can decide if you have done enough.  Work is a time hole, you can work most jobs forever and still have things to do.  You’re in-box will rarely be empty and if it is it will be full very soon.  So how to balance work and life?  It is a personal decision.

He covers his training and the problems with that.  How a Doctor is trained is going to determine the care you receive, how do you get the best?  He tells the reader that things have not changed much, still ridiculous hours and a huge lack of sleep on the training resident.  The book is broken into two parts and both add to the adventure.  Great humor and yet lots of heart.  I love ‘Medical Dramas’ and this added to my enjoyment of those shows.  I have never wanted to be a doctor, but this book made me really think about that decision.

This is a great book that anyone but especially those thinking of medicine as a careen will enjoy.  A great gift for the college graduate going off to medical school.  Read this book and learn what happens behind the ‘Veil’ at your hospital.  Doctors 'Practice' medicine and I think that is great term to remember when you are upset with yours.

Publisher:  Published May 1st 2011 by Listen To Your Heart Press

Copyright: 2011

Pages:  352 pages

ISBN: 0983081905

Quick Review:  5 Stars out of 5. 

Why I Read it:  The publisher was looking for reviewers.

Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent by Cadence Group.

Synopsis:  The unique stories in Doctor Confidential speak directly to anyone in medical training or considering a career in medicine, but also to the patient in all of us. Pulling back the veil of secrecy that too often surrounds medicine, Doctor Confidential provides compassion, humor, and ultimately hope that, when sick and most vulnerable, each of us can be heard, understood, and deeply touched by our physician.

Author Biography:  Richard Sheff, MD is a family physician with over 30 years of experience in medicine. He chose the specialty of family medicine because he wanted to see and treat patients as whole people whose illness and wellness are a result of the complex interplay of their biological, psychological, social, and cultural circumstances. The years have taught him that to this must be added recognition of each patient’s spiritual circumstances if they are truly to be seen as a whole person, including understanding their illness and wellness.

Dr. Sheff practiced family medicine in Massachusetts for 12 years, seeing adults, children, the elderly and, for the first part of his practice, delivering babies. Over the years he was asked to assume greater leadership responsibilities, including serving as medical director of his group practice, vice president for medical affairs of his hospital, president of a corporation that owned and operated physician practices, and vice president for medical affairs of an integrated delivery system. He left there to launch a new company, CommonWell, to help our healthcare system integrate the best of complementary and alternative medicine with the best of conventional medicine.  At the same time, he began to consult with hospitals and physician organizations throughout the United States, and more recently internationally. He now serves as chairman and executive director of The Greeley Company, a highly respected healthcare consulting and education company dedicated to helping physicians and hospitals provide outstanding care to the communities they serve. Dr. Sheff has consulted, authored and lectured on a wide-range of healthcare management and leadership issues, including quality, patient safety, physician performance and accountability, and conflict resolution. “I went into medicine to heal and teach,” he says, “and today I find myself continuing this work, but with a national and even international ministry. My goal is to heal healthcare for those who provide care and for all the patients and families who entrust their vulnerability to physicians and our healthcare system.”

Dr. Sheff is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Brown University residency program in family medicine. He was an undergraduate at Cornell University and recipient of the Keasbey Scholarship for the study of politics and philosophy at Oxford University.

Other Reviews:

Wakela Runes World

Reviews by Amos 

The Hive

Splash into Summer Blog Hop Giveaway - Win a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate

Winner announced 6/1/11, contest closed at Midnight on the 5/31/11.

This hop is going to be an easy one for me.  Follow this blog and comment with your contact info for a chance to win a $10 Amazon Gift certificate.

Easy Entry Rules:

Follow the blog and I will check.

Then Comment with contact info.

Additional entries:

Blog about this giveaway on your blog for 2 extra entries.

Tweet about this giveaway for 2 extra entries.

Comment on any other reviews for 1 extra entries.

Add these links or info in you comment.

Hop along to other great giveaways.

Thank You!

Book Tour - Book Review - What Did I Do Wrong - Liz Pryor

Title:      What Did I Do Wrong

Author:   Liz Pryor

Review:  I am shocked what I learned in this book, I have been at both ends of a friendship.  The one ending it and the one being ended with, I could see both sides and it made me really think about my friendships.  Being ‘Dumped’ is tough and especially if it is someone you have known forever, but it happens and this book helps you understand that and how to cope with it.

Choosing to end a friendship is difficult and takes much thought, but once you make the decision you are already gone.  You just now need to let the other person know, but how?  Liz has some really great ideas on how to let the other person down without destroying them.  When you just stop calling or coming over, you set them up for heartache as they try to figure out what they did wrong.  Maybe it was nothing, maybe you just out grew them or maybe they did do something.  Liz tells the reader that it is better to let them know or let them down easy then to just stop all contact.  Either way someone is hurt, but maybe then they won’t wonder what they did, they will know what happen and they will quit calling you wondering why you don’t call back.

The personal stories and the interviews she did for this book add another dimension to help the reader understand why and how to end a friendship and how to keep one from ending.  I enjoyed this book, it was fast to read and really showed me things about myself and other friends I’ve had.  Great book for all women to read.

Publisher:  Published May 17th 2011 by Simon & Schuster Adult Publishing Group

Copyright: 2011

Pages:  208 pages

ISBN: 1451649657

Quick Review:  4 Stars out of 5. 

Why I Read it:  The publisher was looking for reviewers for an upcoming Book Blog Tour and the book interested me.

Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent by Free Press

Synopsis:  STORIES AND SOLUTIONS FROM GOOD MORNING AMERICA’S ADVICE GURU

It happens without warning, and it devastates you: Your closest girlfriend cuts you off completely. No more late-night phone calls and emails, no more catch-up lunches and dinners. She has decided for whatever reason to move on with her life and has left you to try to make sense of what happened. The experience can be as painful as the death of a loved one and as confusing as an unexpected breakup with a significant other. You replay scenes from the friendship and wonder what you did wrong. You’ve lost a loved one and you don’t know what to do.

Now, What Did I Do Wrong? gives voice to this painful, common, yet rarely discussed phenomenon and provides a resource—and some answers—that you can rely on. Relationship expert Liz Pryor has had a number of these breakups herself, and so she set out to discover why they were happening in order to help herself—and others—get through the pain and prevent it from happening again. Through personal interviews and her popular website, lizpryor.com, Pryor collected hundreds of stories of friendships gone wrong. She draws on those stories to explore the dynamics of friendship breakups in a candid, intimate way, revealing the patterns, the warning signs, and some ways to put a friendship right or help it change so that it meets your friend’s and your changing lives. She also explains how to end a friendship—if you find that you need to do so—in ways that honor both parties’ feelings and your history together.

Like the best kind of girlfriend—one who really will stay friends forever—Pryor blends plain, old-fashioned, feminine good sense and good humor with genuine empathy for the thousands of women who live with the confusion and anxiety that linger after the sting of an ended friendship. What Did I Do Wrong? will validate your feelings and inspire you to be more forthright and compassionate with new and old friends. You will be moved and uplifted by the many stories of strong friendships, broken friendships, and renewed friendships that make this book a treasure of women’s wisdom and experiences.

Author Biography:  I  was born the fifth of seven children in the quiet town of Winnetka on the north shore of Chicago. As the third of the five Pryor girls, I vividly recall observing female communication and dynamics from a very early age. My mother’s commitment to her own female friends and the valued place they held in her life, amid the raising of seven children, set an early and unforgettable precedent.

During my childhood I discovered music as my first creative outlet. I found my love for writing while composing songs on the guitar and creating lyrics. Eventually I landed at Kansas University, where I studied journalism. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1990, I decided to sharpen my writing skills at UCLA. Over the next ten years, while committed to my work in short fiction, I earned a living as a commercial and television actress.

After the birth of my first child, I became a full-time mom, but continued writing during nap-time. Human behavior and self-exploration remained the focus of my short stories, until I wrapped myself around the subject of women in friendship, which ultimately resulted in the birth of my book, WHAT DID I DO WRONG?

Navigating women through the uncharted waters of female friendship ending, has led to an entirely new and exciting chapter in my life. What I hadn’t anticipated after the release of my book, was the surge of consistent communication from women via my website. Their stories, experiences, and interest has created an amazing platform for what appears to be some much sought after commiseration.

The challenges and hilarity of life and the relationships that surround it, has become my niche. Communicating effectively and staying true to who we are…make up most of what I help women seek.

Cheers, and great things for everyone. 

Other Reviews:  Her book just came out May 17th.

Radio Interview

Monday Musing - How Tess Gerritsen made me 30% less sexist in my reading

Back in 2005 I read the book On Writing by Stephen King. In it he suggest that any serious literary person should read at least 100 books per year. So taking that advice I decided to make an effort and began writing down every book I read.

I soon learned to reach 100 books you really have to be looking for new things to read constantly (now that I am 6 years into this it is a lot easier to do than it seemed then in the beginning). Anyways I began scanning book blogs looking for titles and subjects I liked.

At some point I found Tess Gerritsen's blog and read the following post:

I had a taste of just what I was up against during my book tour down south a few years ago. I was standing in a Sam’s Club, autographing copies of my book, when I noticed a male customer picking up an armful of various paperback thrillers. My media escort, a nice Southern gentleman, approached the customer and said, “Say, you seem to like thrillers. Why don’t you come over here and meet Tess Gerritsen? She writes great thrillers, and she’d be happy to sign one for you.”

The customer gave me a long look and then responded with a dismissive shake of his head. “Naw,” he said. “I don’t read books by women. I don’t like the way they write.” And he turned and walked away.

I had never consciously thought about my book choices when it came to the gender of the author, but I now had a wonderful resource to see how I was doing, my list of all the books I had read so far. Going through the list it turned out that I was reading over 95% male authors; I was one of those dismissive sexist male readers without even knowing it.

I made a commitment to actively seek out female authors and I can now say I read around 35%. Not totally equitable, but a vast improvement over my old self.

Thanks to Gerritsen I have enjoyed a lot of books I may have missed, but particularly her works and the writings of Laura Lippman, MC Beaton, Lindsey Davis, Marian Keyes, JD Robb, Denise Mina, Julie Kramer, Kathy Reichs, Tana French, Sophia Kinsella, and many more.

What Books are you missing out on without even knowing it?

**From this I also started to read a lot more foreign books (not American) as I soon noticed I was severely lacking that department too.

Sunday Recap of the Week need

What did you read this week?  Let us know.

Win these two books at this link 

Link to this review.

Link to this review.                                                         Link to this review.

Book Review - Far Corners - Kathleen Bullock

Title:      Far Corners

Author:  Kathleen Bullock

Review:  This is a short fun book to read.  Kids will love it, but I did too.  When these siblings found they were alone and scared they clung to one another, even with the disagreements they had just been having.  When Will cried out for his mother my heart went out to him.  I wanted them to get back to her as quickly as possible.  The writing was great and the pacing was perfect.  I enjoyed the book and read it in one sitting (kids are at school.)

The historical setting and the characters made the pages really pop and I could feel the characters emotions and fears.  Who would want to be lost in time?  Maybe if I knew how and when I could easily get back to the present and home.

Read this book with your kids or let them read it themselves.  Far Corners will keep you all interested to the end.  This book is perfect for all ages.

 

Publisher:  May 2^nd 2009 Diversion Press Incorporated

Copyright: 2009

Pages:  180

ISBN: 978193529049

Quick Review:  4 Stars out of 5. 

Why I Read it:  The publisher sent this with another book for a bonus read.

Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent from the publisher.

Synopsis:  Once upon a Christmas Eve, the Brooks children, Matt, Jan and Willie, stumble through a portal in time and find themselves, along with their run-down old home, transported back to 1747, Colonial Virginia. A ghost has been haunting their house, which had once been a traveler's inn, for well over 260 years. 

Adventure and danger await the children as they try to free the elderly ghost by reuniting her with her son - but they only have until midnight to accomplish their mission. If they don't bring James Danbury back to the Inn before the deadline, the children may be trapped forever in the past. The setting and characters of the story show the complex world that existed in Colonial America in the era before the Revolutionary War, and readers will find some historical surprises!

Author Biography:  Kathleen Bullock is primarily a writer and illustrator of children’s books.

Her picture book credits include the popular It Chanced To Rain and A Surprise for Mitzi Mouse, both published by Simon & Schuster.

She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family and  works as an illustrator for an educational publisher. Bullock is a recipient of an ABA Before Columbus Award for illustration, and a prize-winner in the 2007 Surrey International Writing Competition. Her first novel for juveniles, Far Corners, has just been published by Diversion Press, and her second novel, YA fantasy The End of Dominion, will be published by L&L Dreamspell in 2011.

Her current goals include finishing three half-completed YA novels, and selling them all.

Other Reviews:


Diversion Press Author Interview

ARC Giveaway Friday(review copies) - Eat Your Peas and Same Life, New Story

Giveaway entries:

1 - Follow the blog and comment with your email address so we can contact you if you win.

Extra entries: 2+ for commenting either book review(Eat Your Peas) or Same Life, New Story.

                       2+ for linking this giveaway on your blog.

                       2+ for Tweeting about this giveaway.  Be sure to tell us and leave a 

                       link in the comment you leave. 

 Thanks to the author and thank you for looking us up today.   

Same Life New Story link and Eat Your Peas Faithfully Youtube spot

Link to authors newest blog post.

Both of these books will be given away on ARC Friday Giveaway.  Come back and enter.

Book Review - The Imperfect Enjoyment -Dewan W. Gibson

Title:      The Imperfect Enjoyment

Author:   Dewan W. Gibson

Review:  This was an interesting book that kept my interest and read quickly.  I read it on a trip in the car and I liked it, but I really didn't understand why?  Nothing big was revealed and I really didn't learn anything new, well except that I don't think like a man and I'm happy for that.  This is a coming of age type of story, Dewan is growing up and feeling his way through his growing pains.  Love, loss, love again and lots of sex.  Anyone having grown up can identify with many of the issues the author brings up.  I think that a few conquests were exaggeration and some were downplayed(the toilet issues, yuck).

Lots of talk of sex and body fluids in this book, it reminded me of a bunch of teenagers talking.  I think the book could have been better without all the sex and the sex talk.  I realize I’m a women and so I don’t think like a man, but still come on.  But I did see how the main character went from the loose teenager to the more mature adult, not completely but he is still growing up.  Someday in the future he may actually mature enough to have sex with only his girlfriend or wife.  Or at least his girlfriend or wife can only hope.

The family relationships were well written and funny at times.  I laughed and then I cringed at his word choice and the way he wrote about the women in the book at times.  I felt his pain and his humor.  Not a bad book, but not really my thing.

Publisher:  December 16th 2008 by Irc Books

Copyright: 2008

Pages:  176 pages

ISBN: 0615225888

Quick Review:  3 Stars out of 5. 

Why I Read it:  The publisher was looking for reviewers.

Where I Obtained the Book:  Sent by Donald Beyer Roue Media/Irc Books.  They sent the Kindle version.

Synopsis:  When college instructor Dewan Gibson leaves the Midwest for California, he expects to find a world of breast implants, beer and beaches. Instead he enters a secret and ill-fated romance with a Middle Eastern undergraduate. In this vivid and humorous memoir, Gibson describes his attempts to overcome his forbidden love affair by jumping into an office fling gone wrong (Tijuana Mornings), traveling across the world to Denmark in hopes of meeting "Ms. Booty Mama" (Arhus Ain't for Lovers) and musing over the interracial relationships between his African-American uncles and "rural white women that wore 1980's big bangs and resembled Guns N' Roses groupies" (Too Much Tupac). Toeing the line between stable adulthood and post-college debauchery, Gibson presents a comically honest look at the frailty of modern relationships. Poignant, witty and at times downright hilarious--The Imperfect Enjoyment is a story of toxic relationships and the search for a second chance at love that enlightens and amuses as very few books do.

Author Biography:  Dewan Gibson is a humorist and author of The Imperfect Enjoyment. His work has appeared in Defenestration Magazine, the International Journal of Intercultural Relations and Hobo Pancakes, among other publications. Prior to pursuing a writing career he earned a master’s degree in intercultural communication and taught at San Diego State University. Dewan is currently conducting health disparities research and writing a nonfiction humor book about working in a community clinic. He can be reached on his blog, Facebook or Twitter.

Dewan W. Gibson: Author of The Imperfect Enjoyment

Other Reviews:

Booked Out

Dragonfly

Nicki J Markus

Book Review - The Help - Kathryn Stockett

Title:      The Help

Author:  Kathryn Stockett

Review:  This book was amazing, it took a bit to get started but wow. The way the black maids were treated by the women they worked for, cleaned for, raise their children for, was eye-opening. The idea that anyone treated people so badly, yet allowed them to love and raise their children was mind boggling. I loved the relationship between Aibee and Mae Mobley and the love she had for the children she raised. It broke my heart to think of all those babies and the love she gave them and they gave her, but the kids became just like their parents in the end. Having separate bathrooms for the help because they carried different diseases. What the heck? We are all just people, not that much different from each other. We love, we hurt, and we work hard and want to be accepted by those around us. 

I loved this book, but attitudes and behaviors take the longest to change. These women were trusted with the children, the cooking and the house and yet treated, for the most part, as dirt under a finger nail. This book will make you think about the way you treat others. Would you want the way you treat those around you published in a book? Maybe you need to change the way you treat others so you would be happy to see others read about you and your relationships. 

Skeeter had guts, she did what she thought was right even though she lost things and people she loved. Doing what is right does not always make you popular. Right is right, every time. What a amazing set of characters and relationships. I loved the stories about love between the maids and the families they worked for. Not everything was bad, but things had to change.

 

Publisher:  February 10th 2009 by Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam  

Copyright: 2009

Pages:  451  

ISBN: 0399155341

Quick Review:  5 Stars out of 5.

Why I Read it:  David brought it home from the library.

Where do I obtain the book:  Our local library.

Synopsis:  Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody’s business, but she can’t mind her tongue, so she’s lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

Author Biography:  Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and creative writing, she moved to New York City, where she worked in magazine publishing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter. She is working on her second novel.

Other Reviews:

NY Times

White Readers Meet Black Authors

At Home with Books

Monday in my Mailbox

   For review

and wins from Goodreads and other blog sites.

Sunday Recap of the Week

Thanks for a crazy week, problems with Blogger have caused issues with my posts.  Thanks for visiting.

Book Review

Book Review  Giveaway of this review copy.  Author interview.

The IT BOOK, what is yours?

Author Interview with Eric Livingston author or Brandon Marlowe and the Spirit Snatcher

I had the pleasure of interviewing the author if Brandon Marlowe and the Spirit Snatcher.  Come back tomorrow for a giveaway of my review copy.

Why did you sit down and write a book? 
When I moved from Tulsa to Houston I was chosen to drive the moving van. On a long solo drive I got this idea for a story. As time went on I continued to develop the story further until I reached the point where writing it down was the only way I could stop thinking about it. 

Boarding School is an interesting concept for me, did you attend or would you liked to have attend one? Why? 
No, I did not attend one. I based the Tartarus School on a college campus. The students live on campus, classes are less mandatory, and the students still have the freedom to leave when they want. I think it is the last part, which boarding schools typically don’t have, that would give me pause about attending one. 

Tartarus sounds interesting, but can you give us a better view? 
We’ve all seen the pictures of ancient Greek and Roman structures like the Parthenon or Coliseum. In a civilization that never had the need for an Industrial Age those would still be the types of structures built, and that’s how Tartarus is designed. 

Brandon had lots of freedom to come and go as he pleased, about how old is he in the book? 
Brandon is sixteen. All of the students have the same freedoms. It is a default of the abilities they are born with. In Brandon’s case, he has lived his entire life setting his own restrictions for the safety of others. 

Do you listen to music as you write and if so what do you listen to? 
I do. Personally I like music with energy, something to keep me pumped up as I write. Two bands I like would be Evans Blue and Cage the Elephant. 

Favorite snack? 
Any kind of nachos is good. 

Favorite movie of all time? 
Top movie would be Watchmen. I really enjoyed the Graphic Novel as a kid and never thought anyone could translate it to live action. I was happy to be wrong. 

Favorite author or book of all time? 
While he is not a fiction writer, Christopher Hitchens is easily my favorite author. I don’t always agree with his opinions, but he has a captivating writing style that I find both informative and full of personality. 

If this was made into a movie, who would you like to play Brandon? 
I would like an unknown to play Brandon Marlowe. For a series such as this, using actors the audience is unfamiliar with helps to increase the realism of the story. 

What would you like to tell your readers anything else about your book or characters? 
This is the first book in a larger story. So if you feel like I’ve left out an important mythological figure, don’t worry. There are still more to come. 

My thanks to Eric for giving us a better look into his book.  As with all my reviews I do not know the author personally or have I been compensated in anyway for this review.