LAVENDER ROSE RAMBLINGS

"Hers: Design with a Feminine Touch" by Jacqeline de Montravel~ Puts Womanly Back into Our Spaces

2011-12-23T22:47:00.002-05:00

Published by: Crown Publishing Group

Pages: 225

Genre: House and Garden/Interior Decorating

Gorgeously, fully realized photos of feminine style in decor harkens back to the essence of being a woman without censure in this lush and liberating book.

Sensuous shapes and styles, delicate to firey colorings and a notable eye for art and accessories give life and light to this book. You may think you've read and seen all there is to know about decorating and design, but you'll be surprised!

There is so much to this book that it's difficult to summarize the best of it, but I'm going to try by giving you a highlight I loved best:

The Boudoir:
The French called it...boudoir meaning "to sulk" which in our day-and-age could easily mean our "meltdown" parlor! Our place to escape from the stresses of the world that call on our resources, sometimes more than we have to give.

Virginia Wolff called it "A Room of One's Own," and Jacqueline deMontravel calls it "a state-of-mind" place; one that should be inviting and reflective of who we are at our feminine core, and full of those things that we take particular pleasure in and gain peace from.

After studying this beautiful book, I designed my own perfect place and these are a few of the features:

A huge, ornate mirror framed in mirror pieces and resting on the floor; a button-tufted, large ottoman in blue and champagne silk; a 1700's reproduction chaise, down-filled cushions in washed linen decorated with winter white, blue and pink silk pillows; Louis XVI side chairs in a scrubbed finish; a silver vase of blue hydrangeas and roses...etc...

Does this tell you anything? ;]

In addition to helping find our feminine center in decorating for our "boudoirs," this beautiful book leads us to rethink such other places in our homes as the living room, garden spaces, bar (even stocking and recipes) and entertainment areas, office and collection displays...including book cases.

I highly recommend this gorgeous book. The pictures alone make it very desirable, of course, as a coffee table book, or for your interior design library collection. But, more than that, it holds a trip back into the vast history of where we've come from and where we're headed as women in design.

Author Profile:

Jacqueline deMontravel is the editor of "Romantic Homes" and oversees publication of "Victorian Homes." Former editor of "Country Magazine," she's been in the business of decorating and publishing for more than two decades.

5 elegant stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts: 225 Inspired Projects for Year-Round Celebrations

2011-12-21T05:03:00.000-05:00

Published by: Crown Publishing Group/Random House

Pages: 369

Genre: House and Garden/Crafts

Here's the Scoop:

There is no question that Martha Stewart has long been the reigning queen of DIY home crafts and decorations. In this holiday-centered book, she has gathered the best of her ideas, giving us up-close and fully realized directions on how to create extraordinary crafts and gifts for home, family and friends. Martha doesn't disappoint her fans, and anyone is bound to find something beautiful to create in this holiday crafting book.

Major holidays are segmented and ideas for crafts, home decorating and gift giving are shown for each one: New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas...and all others in between! The large spread photographs are lovely, the ideas are not expensive, but are easily accessible; and, the resulting crafts present bright, festive, magical, and even enchanting pieces.

Here's What I Liked:

Valentine's Day:

Red tulips in double glass vases with red cinnamon candy hearts were vibrant, beautiful and made an easy presentation for a dinner arrangement.

Also, a carnation heart made of multiples of pink carnations on floral foam to make a centerpiece is quick and gorgeous!

Easter :

Fabulous egg-dyeing techniques using natural formulas made from coffee, cabbage, blueberries, beets and spices made incredibly beautiful and exotic eggs. And, Martha gives specific directions for marbleizing eggs! Actually, most of her egg crafting was exceptional.

Thanksgiving :

Gourd candles made from hollowed out mini gourds with colored, melted candles are just amazing little jewels! Pumpkin carving is fabulous!

Christmas :

I loved the cookie cutter ornament ideas made from various paper goods, family pictures and such. The gilded, and verdigris Polish inspired eggs, and the ribbon poinsettia wreath was just to die for.

Hanukkah :

Paper packages, a menorah, and satin stars are glowing and sparkling in Martha's hands.

Here's what I found lacking:

Often the crafts are more complex than one would want to become engaged in.

The directions are not clear cut; that is, they are not in a "recipe/materials" format, but are listed in text, which I found to be more difficult to follow. I needed to break it down for myself on my own paper.

Diagrams sometimes took too much for granted, or at least seemed to expect the more experienced crafter could "fill in the blanks." I wasn't up to some of that!

Several projects were quite time-consuming for very little return or impact.

And, finally, I found the pictures too small in the working segments.

Overall Rating: 3 stars ~ I can't hightly recommend it, but it's a good book to check out of the library...

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Christmas at Pemberley~A Pride & Prejudice Christmas Sequel" by Regina Jeffers

2011-12-19T15:18:00.000-05:00

Published by: Ulysses Press

Pages: 350 with Afterward

Genre: Fiction/Regency Romance

THE DARCYS AND THE BENNETS

CORDIALLY INVITE YOU TO

CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY: A PRIDE & PREJUDICE HOLIDAY SEQUEL

Very quick Summary:

Darcy has invited the Bennets and the Bingleys to spend the Christmastide’s festive days at Pemberley. But as he and Elizabeth journey to their estate to join the gathered families, a blizzard blankets the English countryside. The Darcys find themselves stranded at a small inn while Pemberley is inundated with refugees seeking shelter from the storm.

Without her brother’s strong presence, Georgiana Darcy tries desperately to manage the chaos surrounding the arrival of six invited guests and eleven unscheduled visitors.

But bitter feuds, old jealousies and intimate secrets quickly rise to the surface. Has Lady Catherine returned to Pemberley for forgiveness or revenge? Will the manipulative Caroline Bingley find a soul mate? Shall Kitty Bennet and Georgiana know happiness?

Written in Regency style and including Austen’s romantic entanglements and sardonic humor, Christmas at Pemberley places Jane Austen’s most beloved characters in an exciting yuletide story that speaks to the love, the family spirit and the generosity that remain as the heart of Christmas.

Pemberley from the Dame's Perspective :

I only wish I had 10 more days of Christmas and 10 more books written by Regina Jeffers about the Darcys and clan to fill them! This is my very favorite of the Christmas books I've read for review this year. And, I'm so happy to bring it to your attention just in time for your Christmas rush!

If there is ever a time to get one more book for yourself in that "one for her/him~and one for me" pile; this is the ONE!

Jane Austen would love Regina Jeffers's perfectly Pemberley story that unites not only Elizabeth and Darcy in further intimacy around their soon-to-be first child, but also begins to be-ribbon some family relationships that have kept us aching for more closure.

Regina is the reigning queen (name is rightfully hers) of the sequels to Miss Austen's books, in my humble opinion. She takes care to keep her characters in perfect unity with Jane's intentions, it seems to me. This makes the books all the more close to authentic in nature, and all the more desirable for Austen aficionados.

I lost myself in this wintry novel as it danced among the characters and their longings for connections of heart, purpose and mind. Jane Austen's books are of this quality; not just fluff, but of the substance of true life and its mysteries, if a reader will take a moment to look beyond the surface, as Lizzy would have us do.

The story of a coming home to Pemberley at Christmastime brought me such pleasure this weekend as I put the last trimmings and touches on our holiday. While I went to church, heard the last of the pre-Christmas sermons and remembered things from past holidays with husbands (yes, there have been a couple--I was widowed very young) and children; "A Christmas at Pemberley..." lifted my heart even more.

This is a beautifully, thoughtfully written book. Perfectly in keeping with Miss Austen's tone of characters. A positively on-target treat for Darcy and Lizzy fans. If we can't have Jane, at least we have Ms Jeffers! Thank God!

A Christmas in Regency style that is up-lifting, heartwarming and centered on the things that matter most in life: Love and Family.

The Best of Christmas Books in 2011

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Dystopian Novel "Divergent" by Veronica Roth ~ Cautionary Tale

2011-11-26T09:04:00.001-05:00

Published by: HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books
Pages: 487

Genre: YA Fiction, Dystopian

Why Was I Drawn to This Novel? I love dystopians. Truthfully, I'll read almost any novel that says it's dystopian...especially a YA genre.

Cover Value? Interesting cover. Again, it's the dystopian look that really caught my eye, and the title, too. That firey circle reminded me of the "eye" on our dollar bill and the secret society that is supposed to represent the "New World Order" in our present world. Creepy!

Author? Veronica Roth was not known to me before reading "Divergent." I'm going to be very interested in reading her next book.

Series? Yes! The next book in this series comes out in May, 2012. It's called, "Insurgent." Can't wait!!

My Weekend Review:

"Divergent" is one of the YA novels I was most curious about this past year. I kept holding off reading it like a gift I wanted to wait to unwrap until a special time; then I realized the year was coming to an end! I'm glad I picked it up last weekend and read it...devoured it, is more like it.

In summary, the story centers around a teen aged protagonist, Beatrice, who is of the important age when she can choose which "faction" or lifestyle she will live and work within for the rest of her life. Of these factions, there are these: Abnegation, which values selflessness; Candor, which values frankness/honesty; Erudite, which values knowledge; Amity, which is a faction concerned with working for peace and compatibility; the "factionless" who have not qualified for any factions so are poor and perform the most menial of jobs, and Dauntless, the brave and bold--the fierce fighters.

Beatrice was born into an Abnegation family but never felt at home within the confines of that restrictive environment, and looks forward to her time of reassignment, albeit with a heavy heart with concerns about hurting her parents and brother.

When the test administrators come to her school and give her a "stimulation" inoculation to determine her most appropriate faction placement, Beatrice is pulled aside and told she is something called "Divergent" ~ one who could fit in to several factions ~ and something which is never to be shared with anyone at anytime, ever. It is a dangerous thing to be. She is told that to protect her, her test will be made unclear to those it's reported to, and that she should simply choose a faction she feels most inclined to...Abnegation and Daunting, and Erudite being where she scores.

What follows is the story about Beatrice's choice to join the Daunting faction, her initiation within that faction, her love interest, and her wisdom gained that will conclude with a surprise that will bring all the factions into play.

As a dystopian novel, I felt that "Divergent" was fairly successful. Its creation of a futuristic society that had been partitioned into different "factions" to carry on a world which had an apparent catastrophic ending, was believable. Although the setting played at being in a destroyed, futurist Chicago, we have only a few hints to discern that; and, we are not given any knowledge as to what caused the destruction of the "world" or the United States. I felt at a loss for that information.

The initiation section of the book was excellent in concept, but it seemed to take up too much of the story content, in my opinion. It could have been compressed to lend as much impact; possibly more impact. It began to belabor the story, but was pulled out just in time to move on to a conclusion, thankfully. The conclusion, however, seemed rushed in contrast. Possibly the author was cut short by editors, but the ending of her book failed to tie things together well enough to answer questions that seemed pertinent to this particular story. It seemed abrupt, to me.

There is no doubt that Veronica Roth can write a story that is intriguing and full-bodied. She writes one with interest and good character building. I felt as if her characters were realistic and captivating, personal and probable within her world-setting. They engender a caring response, and an understandable connectedness to each other within the novel. I think these are her strong points, and very immediate ones, ultimately making "Divergent" a good book to read. Nothing better than an author who can create great characters we can attach ourselves to!

I would recommend this book to YA readers, and to many adult readers who enjoy dystopian novels. With the small exceptions I've mentioned that do not in any way take from her overall presentation of a worthy novel, this is quite the entertaining book!

While the story is left unresolved, I expect a second book to conclude it, making this a series. Personally, I'll be looking forward to reading it.

4 stars and a choice of Erudite for my faction

Deborah/The Bookish Dame

My Favorite Character? Four You'll have to read the book to find out who that is... ;]

"Jane Austen Made Me Do It..." Compiled by Laurel Ann Nattress ~ These Short Stories Are To Die For!

2011-11-14T22:57:00.000-05:00

Published by: Ballantine Books

Pages: 464

Genre: Fiction, General & Historical Romance

The Dame's View:

Will it be enough to say that I wish this book had gone on and on just like a Jane Austen novel?

Laurel Ann Nattress has achieved a coup in this first of her books. Who could have imagined that so many "mash-up" short stories would have been released about Jane Austen's novels and her characters? I'll bet the great Jane wouldn't have. And, I'll bet she's having a delighted laugh over this one because it's by far the best of the best in concept and expression of any books like it.

Fun, luminous, entertaining, in the original sense; meaning a time when a book was meant to entertain before television and video games, "Jane Austen Made Me Do It.." is the book of this literay season that you'll want to give your best friends, your daughters, neices and mother. I'm getting copies for Christmas gifts.

How on earth Ms Nattress ever chose from what had to have been a mountain of fabulous entries, because those that made it are the finest of the finest, I have no idea. With writers such as Stephaine Barron, Janet Mullany, Lauren Willig, Margaret C. Sullivan...and I could go on, I just can't fathom who was left out!

These stories are about nightmares, ghostly visitations, visits from Austen characters, ideas and imaginations mixed with readings of Jane's books and more. Short stories that lead one into another until you want to grab the orginal books and thumb through them to laugh or cry again at the characters and Jane Austen quotes. And, Jane is quoted with such majesty here.

What more can I say except this is a book great fun to have in your Austen collection. And I know anyone who's read this review so far, by this lackluster blogger, has a Jane Austen collection.

5 tearoom nods

Deborah/LavenderRose

Is Latest Trend Towards Demonology & Sexually Explicit Scenes In YA Fiction Concerning?

2011-11-14T18:12:00.000-05:00

Are young adults and adults, alike, being duped by "beautiful covers?"

Current trends in YA fiction which include more specific sexual content, demonology and in dwellings of fallen angels concern me. When young adult fiction was first identified, it seemed to be separated from other genre. Its content had to do with teen aged "coming-of-age" and angst stories, friendship cliques, family dynamics, mild fantasy, syfy, and boys' sports conundrums, just to name a few fairly harmless plots.

*It must be said up-front that I do not mean to include these series': "Harry Potter," the "Twilight" series and lighter YA fiction in my discussion but use them only as examples of the evolution of YA fiction toward fantasy in a non-threatening way.

Upon the debut of the "Harry Potter" series, YA fiction took a greater leap into the fantasy world, drawing adult readers as well as young adults and children whose parents readily read the books to them. While this series drew some controversay from conservative groups, it was massively received and marked a new trend toward the magical and mystical we'd not seen in children's literature in recent times.

Then came the vampire series topped by "Twilight" and its copycats. A seemingly harmless group of novels that soft-peddled beautiful, teen aged vampires who were for the greatest part, sad they had to drink blood to survive and wanted to be part of an ordinary high school. No explicit sex and no demonology with succubi and incubus's, werewolves included, at the beginning of this trend. But, not your old-fashioned vampires in the long-run ...

Suddenly, or perhaps insidiously, I'm not sure which, some authors have turned a corner seeming to draw unwitting YAs who seek a little more darkness, and are led by gorgeous book covers. Why have writers begun to lose their sense of what is appropriate for young adults to read? Their sense of direction has become strange.

Some books have begun to tell occult stories, easily drawing the darker sides of teen aged minds and troubled/drug-exposed lives or worse. They're writing stories featuring beautifully etched spirits and angels from the dark side, demonology, losing one's soul, humans selling one's soul forever, in dwellings of angels of darkness, fallen angels who are minions of Satan, sexually explicit scenes and the like.

What has happened to a sense of concern and awareness of young adult audiences? Where are these stories leading them, anyway?

I'm afraid, but I'm compelled to speak out and to take a stand about this trend.

When things began to deteriorate in some countries of Europe in the 1920's, no one spoke up about the "mythologically-based" trends of the Nazi regime. Were you aware that their symbols, their beliefs and rules of order were taken from ancient occultism and mysticism? Were you aware that Wagner's music and opera were mythologically based and were the favorites of Hitler and his staff? Beautiful stage settings..gorgeous program covers..stunning performers...

Hitler's justification for the murder of Jews and other "undesireables" was based on mythology and beautiful gods and goddesses who came down to fraternize with humans. These stories birthed his compulsion to create the pure Aryan race, which is based on a mythological people.

The symbol for the "SS," Hitler's most feared secret police, is from the mythological symbol for Vril or the "god" Odin. The Swastika is also.

In an article by Dr. Danny Penman called "Hitler and the Secret Satanic Cult at the Heart of Nazi Germany," he writes:

"Historians have tended to downplay the occult foundations of Nazism for fear of trivialising its heinous war crimes, but a recent documentary on the Discovery Channel laid bare the untold story of the secretive religion at the heart of fascist Germany. And bizarrely, it is thought to have been based on a 19th Century science fiction novel that predicted flying saucers, an alien race at the centre of the earth, and a mysterious force known as Vril.

"Occult myths played a central role in Nazism,” says Professor Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, head of the Centre for the Study of Esotericism at Exeter University. “When we look at these ideas today, we think of them as crazy, but they were central to the early Nazi Party and through them played a critical role in 20th century history.”

“The Vril society was dedicated to evil,” says historian Michael Fitzgerald. “Through their control of the Nazi party they committed the greatest acts of evil in the 20th Century.

“Vril occultists worked in complete secrecy doing anything that would promote Aryan power. This ranged from straightforward political assassinations, through to evoking the spirits of the dead, human sacrifice and summoning mysterious energies – or Vril - through sexual orgies.”

“They began by indoctrinating the Hitler Youth with Satanic ideologies,” says Michael Fitzgerald. “Children and the future leaders of the SS were taught that compassion was weakness. They were encouraged to celebrate pagan festivals and to carry out occult ceremonies..."

I'm hoping you will add your comments to this post. I'm hoping I won't be alone in my worries about this trend. I really don't know what else to do but share my concerns.

Deborah/TheBookishDame/LavenderRose

"Come Back To Me" by Melissa Foster~ Unforgettable Novel About American Soldier in Iraq

2011-11-04T14:39:00.001-04:00

Published by: Greenforge Books

Pages: 316

Summary:

Tess Johnson has it all: her handsome photographer husband Beau, a thriving business, and a newly discovered pregnancy. When Beau accepts an overseas photography assignment, Tess decides to wait to reveal her secret--only she's never given the chance. Beau's helicopter crashes in the desert.

Tess struggles with the news of Beau's death and tries to put her life back together. Alone and dealing with a pregnancy that only reminds her of what she has lost, Tess is adrift in a world of failed plans and fallen expectations. When a new client appears offering more than just a new project, Tess must confront the circumstances of her life head on.

Meanwhile, two Iraqi women who are fleeing honor killings find Beau barely alive in the middle of the desert, his body ravaged by the crash. Suha, a doctor, and Samira, a widow and mother of three young children, nurse him back to health in a makeshift tent. Beau bonds with the women and children, and together, with the help of an underground organization, they continue their dangerous escape.

What happens next is a test of loyalties, strength, and love.

The Dame Reviews:

For every war in history, there's been a love story that captures the hearts of those in battle and those left behind. Melissa Foster has written that story. The love story of the war in Iraq.

Ms Foster knows how to capture the feelings and thoughts of people and to translate that to the written word into her characters. This is a mighty gift for a writer. It is, in fact, the essence of powerful writing and the thing that authors long to achieve. When authors are asked what makes a good book, or what's the single most important factor that they want to achieve in writing; hands down they respond "writing good characters." Well, Melissa Foster's forte' is just that. I can give her no higher praise.

You have read the essence of her book in the summary above, and probably watched the video, I hope. It's the story of two young people who have just started a life together and who love each other with all their hearts. The story of not giving up when the worst thing in life has happened to them. It's the story of hope over every possible reason not to believe in it. It's the story, then, of the best in the human spirit.

I've said it before about Ms Foster's novels such as "Megan's Way," which has won so many prestigious awards and is in production for a movie, and for "Chasing Amanda," which has also won a basketful of awards; her writing is just stellar. You can't find a bunch of books you'll love more and that will change your perspective on things.

An unforgettable book, this is one for you to read this weekend! She's an author who's been compared to Jodi Picoult.

Melissa Foster is also on Facebook where you can find a great following because she believes in helping other authors, and links to her organization: The Women's Nest.

5 bold and beautiful stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen" by Donia Bijan is Breath-taking

2011-11-02T01:07:00.002-04:00

Published by: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Pages: 250

Genre: Memoir

Summary:

For Donia Bijan’s family, food has been the language they use to tell their stories and to communicate their love. In 1978, when the Islamic revolution in Iran threatened their safety, they fled to California’s Bay Area, where the familiar flavors of Bijan’s mother’s cooking formed a bridge to the life they left behind. Now, through the prism of food, award-winning chef Donia Bijan unwinds her own story, finding that at the heart of it all is her mother, whose love and support enabled Bijan to realize her dreams.

Donia Bijan graduated from UC Berkeley and the Cordon Bleu. After presiding over a number of San Francisco's acclaimed restaurants and earning awards for her French-inspired cuisine, she ran her own restaurant, L'Amie Donia, in Palo Alto for ten years.

The Dame Savors This One:

This is a memoir to savor. It's a breath-taking account of a young woman who lived the life of a cherished and richly encompassed child of the world at large. I became spellbound by Donia Bijan's life story immediately, and found myself holding my breath as I grasped her book, not wanting to read it slowly, but speeding through its pages like a delicious crepe filled with Turkish coffee ice cream.

While Ms Bijan's memoir is captivating in and of itself, her exotic recipes included at the end of chapters are both slightly tipped with the savory and screaming to be tried in one's own kitchen. I can hardly wait to try her Cardamom Honey Madeleines. Proustians everywhere know of his love affair with Madeleines to begin with, so her distinctive twist of cardamom with trying out farmers' market honeys makes this recipe irresistible to me. We have a great farmers' market in Naples.

Not to mention that I have a fabulous Madeleine pan I've never used!

What I found intriguing among so many things about this memoir is the tone of her literary "voice." I suppose I expected a lilting celebration of food and family...a "warm and inviting kitchen" experience as expressed on the cover review. Instead, Ms Bijan's telling of her past life as a refugee from revolutionary-torn Iran, to the shores of a hip and culturally shocking San Francisco, and an unimaginably glorious but difficult training in the bowels of kitchens in Paris, France, is somewhat maudlin. It's reflective. I found it a surprise, and a powerful memoir for that reason.

Food, studying the art of food preparation and restauranteering isn't what's important in her memoir, it seems to me. What is important is the underlying story of trials, family obligations and examples of dedication to others, of loving and sharing gifts through food, of finding wholeness within the simplicity of homemade and close-to-home foods and ingredients that are discovered. Food was the life-blood of Donia's family. It is also the foundation of her heritage,where she is today, and where her son and future generations are going.

It was significant to me that her mother was not only a central figure in Donia's learning the importance of food and cooking, but she was a strong role-model: a midwife, a women's liberation advocate, a tireless volunteer in wartime, a teacher, a woman of grace and celebration, a knitter and seamstress, a mother and devoted wife. Her mother didn't show her the example of taking the easy road in life, of failing to show up and give ones best efforts. It's obvious in Donia's life.

I highly recommend this book of many trips through a life that's magical and meaningful. There is much I've left out because there's so much in this memoir, beautifully told, never boring--quite the opposite--like a teatime set with Brussels lace on a silver tray holding lemon tea steeped in a china pot draped in a knitted cozy...side served with a plate of freshly baked cardamom Madeleines; this book will be in your hands until the last perfect word is read.

5 delicious stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Night Strangers" by Chris Bohjalian ~ Wickedly Wonderfully Scary!

2011-10-23T13:42:00.001-04:00

Wooot! Wickedly Witchie Update!

I finished reading "Night Stranger" by Chris Bohjalian last night/early this morning, and now I'm dizzy and sleepy...no, I mean, I'm ready to start my new book, "Fallen" by Traci L. Slatton. I'm just going to finish here and get some breakfast (though God only knows what that will be since I'm not able to digest my food lately and the doc's can't find out what's wrong with me--too much reading!??).

Anyway....

My Thoughts on Night Strangers:

Can I say, "Unexpected!" This is not your Chris Bojalian of "Midwives." Oh, no! This is a Stephen King-ish Chris comin' out of the New Hampshire woods on a dark, isolated winter to claim his place as a demented dreamer living in a wreck of an old house too far away from citified people.

Taking your psyche in your own hands, read this book over Halloween because it is so freaky and spooky. I loved the involvement of the main character, Chip, a pilot who's his own fearful failure for crashing his plane and killing many passengers; and his young, strange twin girls. First of all it's scary right off the bat when Bojalian describes a cellar door secured with 32ish bolts that's the size of my osteopathic granny! I knew right then and there we were in for some trouble and it wasn't going to be sweet and enchanting, either.

This is a book for vegans and those who enjoy herbal tea, maybe. :] This is also a book for those who like things that go "bump in the night."

I was held captive by this book...loved it all the way through to the shocker of an ending. The characters are fabulous and freaky. The narrating voice is nearly invisible making for a feeling of voyeurism that made the book even more haunting. And, the plot, while some of it may have not been entirely unfamiliar in parts, was very well put together--suspenseful, scary, leading and misleading, horrifying. All the good ingredients for a perfect "tincture." Pull up a big, over-stuffed chair and a cup of herbal tea for this one.

5 stars a spectre-ing

Deb/TheFanciful and Freaky Speed-Reading Wickathoner

Wonderfully Wicked Read-A-Thon ~ I'm Off Reading Today!

2011-10-22T17:12:00.001-04:00

Oh, yes, call me loopy but here I am embroiled in a wonderfully witchie and and wicked read-a-thon this weekend! I've been needing to read a few books in my stack (I'm always needing to do that) so this has given me just the perfect way to do that.

I'm so happy to share the whole thing with you. You can still take part today and tomorrow if you want to. You'll not only have the fun of reading spooky books to share, but you'll be able to visit others through linky. Find out more by clicking on My Shelf Confessions .

So, here are the books I plan on reading so far:

Who are the "night strangers?"

Let the reading begin! Do you want to join us? I'll be updating and letting you know how I'm doing throughout the weekend. Oh, and look who's below! The darling little living dead doll "Claret" who will keep me company on this afternoon's stretch of speed reading.... We have to be careful, though, she likes to rip out throats, the sweet little dear.

"Classic Elite Quick Knits" ~Royal Empress Shawl knit w/ 30% silk & 70% merino yarn is Lucious!!

2011-10-21T23:55:00.002-04:00

Published by: Taunton Press

Pages: 213 with Pictures

Genre: Home and Garden, Crafts

Sharing a historical perspective:

I have to share with you one of the side-bar interesting things about Classic Elite Yarns. It's now owned, managed and staffed for the most part by women! How refreshing, and how appropriate for a company whose focus is to put beautiful yarns into the hands of women who then create gorgeous fabrics, gifts and home goods from them.

In addition to being focused on the distribution of yarn purchased from international and domestic mills, Elite writes and manages pattern designs; and, most interestingly, it's still housed in the historic, original mill site in Lowell, MA, beside the Merrimack River. I've been there, and contrary to what the mind may imagine, this is a relatively small mill building considering, with a mixed history of manufacturing, toil and hardship. I'm glad the Lowell mill has evolved to some good in the hands of women.

As an aside, a really memorable and gothic book about New England mills and a young woman working in them is: "The Madness of A Seduced Woman" by Susan Fromberg Schaefer.

My Review of "Classic Elite Quick Knits":

More than all the excellent directions, pictures of models and patterns that grace the pages of this book, I want to talk about some of the yarns and items knitted. If you're a knitter, the quality and timelessness of Classic Elite Yarns is already familiar to you.

This book is divided into sections having to do with small projects, but they are so beautifully detailed that nobody would imagine they have only taken a few hours to produce. Using the most exotic of yarns, coupled with easy patterns that only look difficult, the results are amazingly quick knits worthy of bragging rights!

Here are some of my favorites, though you'll have to get the book to see them and choose your own.

The "Royal Empress Shawl" knitted from Magnolia a yarn comprised of 70% merino and 30% silk in the color "Persian Orange." (A soft persimmon color, actually) is for me. This is a rather small shawl with primary structure and design. It's classic and sophisticated. This was a difficult choice to make!

Capelets: Gorgeous patterns in such unbelievable yarns. I'm a sucker for capelets as it is, so this book of so many easy to intermediate designs and supple yarn choices is killer. Couldn't we just make capelets all day for everyone we know? Seeing is believing where these are concerned. Check out the blues!

The hats and mittens are made in designs I haven't seen so beautifully
worked in 40 years of experience. The colors of these hats and mittens are keenly selected for contemporary use. The most attractive of all to me is a pair of fingerless mittens that harken back to the historic ones in the Old Sturbridge Village Shop in MA. Obviously, this design was one worn in historic New England for many reasons.

From blankets and bags the stand-outs to me were the "Irresistible Blanket" for babies cabled in pink Posh a cashmere and silk blend yarn. I want one for every single one of my grandchildren! And, the absolutely fabuloso "Sunshine Bag" in 5 colors featured on the cover of this book. Wonder if it would be gorgeous felted!?

In conclusion, I found this book exceptionally good. It's one I would love to have for my knitting library. Wish I could give you some visuals here...you have to go to your nearest book shop and see them yourself!

5 stars

Deborah/LavenderRose

The Beautiful Iron Fey Series by Julie Kagawa~"The Iron King, Daughter, Queen & Knight"

2011-10-21T05:31:00.002-04:00

"The Iron Fey Series" ~by Julie Kagawa ~ If You Aren't A Fan, You Should Be!

Published by: Harlequin

Genre: YA fiction, fantasy

1st in the "Iron Fey" series

I met Julie Kagawa early in her career looking for reviewers for what's become her wildly successful and awesome Iron Fey Series. She has a wonderful group of books and a good, on-going story to tell. I'm a huge fan of Julie and these books. The book covers are to die for, and the characters are "swweeet"...can't help loving them! I'm just going to spend time showing you the books and running some trailers for fun. Hope you enjoy the visuals!

Everyone's said this second book was even better than the first...or just as good! In this book, Megan has made a love relationship, and a true friendship. Moreover, could the covers get more stunning!? You and I need to get these for our book shelves asap!

Megan's picture on the cover is beautiful...but some Asians are having trouble with the fact that Caucasions are being used instead of Asians for the character models. Julie Kagawa originally said she chose to write the books after manga characters. Oops! I wonder if this really matters in the development of her series as it's progressed. Personally, I don't think an author should be confined by an original inspiration. Our appreciation of fine art can't be "canned" in this way. I say you've done a wonderful job, Julie, so don't fret!

Watch this trailer, please, you won't believe how amazing this series is :

I really liked that trailer, but then I found this one below which gives
more insight into the look of the characters in addition to Megan.

OMGosh, could they be more intriguing! What do you think about Ash and Puck? What about the others? I can't believe how amazing the fey all look...wonderful casting of these characters for us.

By now, you've got to be dying to read this Iron Fey series. You are, aren't you? Go quickly and get all the books. Here's the newest one:

"My name—my True Name—is Ashallayn'darkmyr Tallyn.

I am the last remaining son of Mab, Queen of the Unseelie Court.

And I am dead to her. My fall began, as many stories do, with a girl…"

The books in Julie Kagawa's "Iron Fey Series" are published by Harlequin. They are in large paperback format with beautifully designed covers and edges for those who like to collect like I do. The genre, of course, is YA fiction~but we know that crosses over into adult fiction. I fear you will be left behind if you don't get started on your first book...or second book at the very least. These books are very special. You can pretend they're for your daughter or son! :]

5 x 4 = 20 starry night stars for this magnificent series

Get your fey on!! Deborah/LavenderRoseRambler

**PS: HELP, HELP!! Please help me drive interest to my newest blog: http://bookishdameyafancifulfiction.blogspot.com/ where I will be posting comments and reviewing YA fiction exclusively from now on.
Thanks for friending me!!
Hugs, Deb

"The Time In Between" by Maria Duena~ Luminous and Exotic

2011-10-13T03:44:00.001-04:00

Published by: Atria Books/Simon and Schuster

Pages: 624

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Women's Fiction

Release Date: November 8, 2011

Overview: Needlewomen Take Note !!!

The inspiring international bestseller of a seemingly ordinary woman who uses her talent and courage to transform herself first into a prestigious couturier and then into an undercover agent for the Allies during World War II

Between Youth and Adulthood . . .

At age twelve, Sira Quiroga sweeps the atelier floors where her single mother works as a seamstress. At fourteen, she quietly begins her own apprenticeship. By her early twenties she has learned the ropes of the business and is engaged to a modest government clerk. But everything changes when two charismatic men burst unexpectedly into her neatly mapped-out life: an attractive salesman and the father she never knew.

Between War and Peace . . .

With the Spanish Civil War brewing in Madrid, Sira leaves her mother and her fiancé, impetuously following her handsome lover to Morocco. However, she soon finds herself abandoned, penniless, and heartbroken in an exotic land. Among the odd collection of European expatriates trapped there by the worsening political situation back on the Continent, Sira reinvents herself by turning to the one skill that can save her: her gift for creating beautiful clothes.

Between Love and Duty . . .

As England, Germany, and the other great powers launch into the dire conflict of World War II, Sira is persuaded to return to Madrid, where she takes on a new identity to embark upon the most dangerous undertaking of her career. As the preeminent couturier for an eager clientele of Nazi officers’ wives, Sira becomes embroiled in the half-lit world of espionage and political conspiracy rife with love, intrigue, and betrayal.

About The Author: Ms Duenas has a PhD in English Philology and has taught at several American universities.

“Maria DueÑas is a true storyteller. She weaves a spell, conjuring the heat and the glamour, the hardship and the thrill of Morocco and Spain in the late 1930s. The world of Casablanca comes to life as war breaks and Sira Quiroga, a beautiful and betrayed seamstress, is forced to discover her own strength. At a time when everyone must do what they can to survive, some will go beyond. Resistance will be formed and history will be written. Read this book and prepare to be transported.” –Kate Morton, New York Times bestselling author of The Distant Hours

The Bookish Dame's Review:

What is it about the Spanish author that takes me up in just a word and captures me like a moth to a flame? I can hear the storyteller's voice. I am in her very presence. I am sitting in a comfortable chair beside her while she tells me the story. I can see every detail she describes and I adore the descriptions. I'm just completely at her mercy! This is the story of "The Time In Between." This novel is so like having Meryl Streep read "Out of Africa" to you. I felt exactly that way...

Maria Duenas's novel is translated for us into English. And, since it is a translation, I can only imagine how glorious it must be in Spanish. She has an amazing gift of words. Her use of description is fascinating and so near perfection that fabrics, for instance, are almost tangible. As a needlewoman, I almost cried for wanting to touch the silks, Chantilly lace, crepe de chine, georgette and embroideries she writes about. It's wonderful to hear about the fashions Sira experiences and designs and sews through the years as she supports herself as a seamstress. To read how she's saved in her intrigues and safe-harbored by her couture-making is so awe-inspiring to someone who loves fabrics.

Ms Duenas described falling into a blind-mad love with the wrong man so perfectly that I know only one who's been there could know that kind of psychosis! It was unbelievably beautiful. A psychiatrist friend of mine once said that love should be called a psychotic episode because it is a chemical insanity/madness. I thought Duenas caught that obsession with the way she walked us through Sira's reactions. To read it is to be made dizzy by her writing and to recall that punch to the gut passion.

The legends and the history of the early 1900's and WWII are not heavy and boring in this novel, but are beautifully rendered. There are interesting details, wonderful people and characters imagined, music, theatre and art. Cultures and peoples are given well-rounded insights. Social uprisings are strangely similar to our own today, which I found interesting. Nazi Germany is given another interesting view from Ms Duenas's characters. All of this contributes to this compelling read.

"The Time In Between" is a book I will be keeping in my library. I hope my grandchildren will read it one day. It's a beautifully written novel with a story we should never forget. I'm going to put it next to my "The Winds of War" by Herman Wouk.

5 shining stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Last Minute Knitted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson ~ Simplicity Made Beautiful

2011-10-08T22:06:00.001-04:00

Published by: Open Road Media/Abrams

Pages: 107

Release Date: September 13, 2011

Now in Ebook format

Overview:

Today's knitters are chic, smart-and busy. Although they love to knit and enjoy making gifts for family and friends, they're constantly faced with the challenge of finding enough time to actually finish what they've started. Last-Minute Knitted Gifts solves this problem. Joelle Hoverson, owner of Purl, the hip knitting supply store in downtown Manhattan, has designed more than 30 fun, fresh, beautiful patterns, most of which can be made in less than ten hours—some in as little as two! Known for her keen sense of color, Hoverson includes instructions for classic gifts like baby booties and bonnets, sweaters, and scarves, plus imaginative options like a cashmere tea cozy, a felted yoga mat bag, floor cushions, and a poncho—surely something for everyone on the gift list. And to make each present extra-special, Hoverson offers easy tips on how to incorporate knitting and other yarn embellishments into the gift wrap.

The Dame's Review :

This is a book radiant with color. How I would love just to spend a few days in Joelle's shop, wandering around, touching the yarns, pulling colors and learning to knit a couple of her patterns. The way she's written this particular book gives it not the urgency one might think is needed if you're making a "last minute" gift, but a kind of serenity and assurance that all is well. So, that makes it just plain entertaining.

Oh, just kill me now, Sleeping Beauty! I'm going for the sharp needles!Because time is spent here helping us understand color, color relationships, substitutions of color and yarns; and about which needles will produce the product we hope to achieve. We get a good idea about felting, fluffing and fancy yarns, along with the basics of knitting from a pattern. While this book is easy on the eyes of any stage knitter, it's also filled with good, solid information that can be a reference any time.

I have to say that I had a hard time resisting the precious bonnets and cotton caps in this book. Oh, my, they made me want to call my children and beg for new grandchildren!! But, the color crunched big kids caps are just as delicious and are perfect for all ages.

The drawstring pouch on the cover of the book is simplicity and beauty in one. It can be used as a bride's purse, a gift bag, a jewelry pouch and a place to store secret, small treasures or memorabilia. Joelle suggests stitching it with alpaca and silk, "a soft, luscious drape and a lustrous sheen." But, I can also see beads, pearls, silk ribbons accessorizing... Leave it to me to take the simplicity away!

Without putting too fine a point on it, this book is a good little addition to your knitting and crafts collection. The directions, glossary and darling designs make it a keeper for reference and to "go to" often.

5 multicolored blended stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Bringing Books to Children~Your Kindness Gives Books to Kids Who Wouldn't Otherwise Have Any

2011-10-06T20:23:00.000-04:00

Genre: Children's Book

Early Bullying & Learning Kindness in School

What's So Special About Sarah?

This little book is helping to lay a foundation for kindness and caring about others' feelings in schools. Bullying is a serious problem in our school systems across the Country starting as early as Elementary School. This one small book with its one clear meaning can help children see the special gifts kindness can bring in building good friends.

‘Sarah O’Hara ~ Gift of the Fairy Wings’ is an AMAZING book with AMAZING results!!!!! . . . I can see how this book really can begin to change the world, one child/family at a time. The content is interesting to children and easy to understand. It helps them to see that being kind in the real world is very important to making our world a better place to live. Thank you so much for this beautiful book!
~ Susan Basler, Director, Akron Head Start, Akron CO

What the Bookish Dame Asks:

I don't like the word "disadvantaged" when speaking of children. Somehow it lessens them in the ears, and diminishes them automatically in the eyes of others. I like to think of some children more as those who haven't had access to some of the things they need to achieve their personal best in life. Those who haven't experienced the special feelings of owning a book of their own, for instance. All children have the ability and spirit in them for great things. What all of them don't always have is a means to encourage that journey...a book for a lighthouse. Light in the darkness.

The very kind author of "Sarah O'Hara..." and her children's health organization, whose focus is on giving them joy for the journey, asked me and I'm asking you, to lend a hand in making it possible to put books in the hands of promising children...those children who need the gift of a book to give them hope in their journey to greatness; to all they can be.

Most of us can vividly recall the day and moment that a book sparked magic for us; starting us on a voyage leading us through a life of joy, knowledge, clear direction and education. Starting us on a life with the promise of having something that couldn't be taken from us or our memories.

Please take a couple of minutes and a minimal amount of money to invest in the lives of children who need you.

YOUR AVENUE OF KINDNESS :

By purchasing a copy of “Sarah O’Hara Gift of the Fairy Wings” you can put another copy into the hands of a homeless child or a kid who’s never had a brand new book.

From now through the Christmas season, for every hardcover or eBook sold, through Amazon.com*, a brand new Sarah O’Hara book will be donated to a local organization that will make sure a child has their very own signed copy to treasure.

The book is particularly relevant for parents, grandparents, educators, and caregivers who struggle with teaching their kids to be kind in an age where bullying begins in preschool.

“Sarah O’Hara ~ Gift of the Fairy Wings” has won three national awards. It’s brilliant colors and engaging illustrations make it a favorite of children preschool to eight or nine years old. Each book purchased from this site will be autographed, by the author, to your child, children or YOU if you write their first name in the note/comment section of your PayPal transaction.

Here's What Others Are Saying :

“Sarah O’Hara ~ Gift of the Fairy Wings” is adored by educators and children alike!

‘Sarah O’Hara ~ Gift of the Fairy Wings’ is an AMAZING book with AMAZING results!!!!! . . . I can see how this book really can begin to change the world, one child/family at a time. The content is interesting to children and easy to understand. It helps them to see that being kind in the real world is very important to making our world a better place to live. Thank you so much for this beautiful book!
~ Susan Basler, Director, Akron Head Start, Akron CO

“I had to email and tell you what a great response I had to your book. The kids were enthralled by the pictures and the story! Today when they came back to school, they couldn’t wait to look through the pictures. Several children wanted to hear the book again and some said they wanted it for Christmas!”
~ Betsy Mc H., Preschool Teacher and Author

Wow! The story is great, but as a former art teacher I must say I LOVE the illustrations! Ms. Crouthamel has to be one of the freshest new talents in book illustration to come along in years. The attention to detail, the color and the creation of these wonderful characters is extraordinary. This is truly a case of both words and illustrations coming together perfectly to teach a fine lesson. I hope to find more books written and illustrated by this pair of talented women!
~ Donna Wesley, former Art Teacher

BUY ONE GIFT ONE FREE:

Note: When "this site" is referred to in the text it refers to http://www.sarahohara.com/ or http://sarahohara.com/blog/anti-bullying-blog/

From now, until year end, put a book into the hands of a homeless or disadvantaged child.

As stated above, for every hardcover or eBook sold, through Amazon.com*, a brand new Sarah O’Hara book will be donated to a local organization that will make sure a child has their very own signed copy to treasure. You will save 30% off the cover price (taken at checkout) get free shipping from a purchases on this site http://www.saraohara.com/ , and a child who may never have had a book of their own, will get a wonderfully illustrated, heartwarming story about how being kind rocks!

Just click on any one of the links to purchase your copy now!

Use coupon code ‘KIND’ Discount will be applied at check out.

Purchase EBOOK on Amazon.com

*purchases on Amazon must be made directly to Amazon.com, not an Amazon vendor.

Save 30% Plus get FREE SHIPPING*

(*30% discount/free shipping offer applies only to purchases checked out through this website: http://sarahohara.com/blog/anti-bullying-blog )

Thanking you in advance for your joining us in this Christmastime gift of books for children! I wish everyone in America a book for Christmas, especially our precious children.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Which Literary Heroine Are You? Mike Wells's Quizz Is Inspiring!

2011-10-05T10:39:00.001-04:00

Elizabeth Bennett

"Pride and Prejudice"

Mrs. Darcy

Which Literary Heroine Are You?

My Favorite Movie Couple

Mike Wells of "The Green Water Blog," see his website at:

http://ht.ly/6Nol1 is a best-selling novelist of "fast-paced" novels both YA and adult, whom, as an American, teaches Creative Writing at Oxford.

I love his inspiring and telling quizzes. Once on the site you'll find a link for them all at the top of his "home" page. He also has one for recognizing your ideal lover! :]

2nd Favorite Movie Couple~Colin Firth

The Dame's Heroine :

It appears this is whom I most favor and act like in my life.

Elizabeth Bennett, later Elizabeth Darcy, is the protagonist of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Though the circumstances of the family situation and the Victorian society require her to marry for convenience and security, Elizabeth wishes to marry for love. Elizabeth is bright and articulate young woman, a lively and playful character. She often displays charming if slightly impertinent behavior that is entertaining and unusual. She delights in her quick-witted nature and does not bother to conceal it.

Men are attracted to women like Elizabeth because she is honest, healthy and interesting. They think her fun to be with as long as they are not a target of her wit. Her eyes shine with intelligent sincerity and men can’t help but be flattered by her attention. However, Elizabeths must remember that even if men fall in love with a playful spirit, they love a real woman.

The danger of being ‘Elizabeth’ is that her confidence is based on limited and sheltered life experience. With no reason at all she believes that she has superior judgment of human character.

It may or may not be true, but if you are like Elizabeth keep it at bay at least on the first date. Believe me you will have your chance to shine in all your splendid colors after the wedding bells.

Your Dame's Final Word:

So, quick like a bunny...go find who you are in literary fiction and comment here so we'll recognize you!

Deborah/TheBookishDame
Lavender Rose & alias Elizabeth

Herself: Miss Jane Austen

Author and Heroine

Ed Hardy and Cross Stitch? Who'd A Thunk It? "Love Kills Slowly" Ed's Designs!

2011-10-04T03:44:00.000-04:00

Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Pages: 96

Now On Google for Sale

I have this perfume and it actually smells great...jasmine and rose but not too sweet...woodsy

What This Book Entails :

From Google overview--

This ain't your grandmother's cross-stitch. Ed Hardy's Love Kills Slowly Cross-Stitch is a counted cross-stitch book for a new generation of crafters. From pierced hearts to images of skulls and crossbones, Hardy's colorful, tattoo-inspired designs are perfect for stitchers looking for something bold and graphic. Each pattern comes complete with a full-color illustration of the original art, an illustration of the final product, and a full-color pattern and key. A how-to section teaches the basics of counted cross-stitch.

About the Author :

Ed Hardy is known as the "godfather of modern tattoos" for his artistic sophistication, depth, and experimentation. Hardy melds American, Japanese, cholo, tattoo, surf, and hot rod iconography to create his unique designs. His work adorns a broad range of products, including T-shirts, sleepwear, bed linens, energy drinks, car accessories, swimwear, baseball caps, and much more.

I can't see myself in this! :p

You get the idea here of his mermaid and geisha tatoo art, cartoons.

Hardy's signature roses with glitz!

Butterfly and Geisha

Brave Hearts Tatoo and Pink Carp

My Take On This Book :

I only discovered Ed Hardy a year ago this Summer when I started seeing his art work on surfer shirts for my size 4-5 yr. old grandsons! Since skulls seemed to be unavoidable this past couple of years for the boys, I noticed Hardy's tatoo prints as standouts among the others. Grim and, yet, beautifully juxtaposed with roses, blue birds and flourishes. Nope, didn't get the grands any of them.

However, I did find the most darling pair of sneakers in my grandgirl's size (see her picture on the side with my son) in pink with roses and geishas. She loves pink and the tatoos were pretty and summery for her. I think her mom was a little taken aback... :]

Ed Hardy has grown on me. I still cringe when I see skulls, though, and I'm really opposed to having my little grands wear such huge displays of them with the words "kill" surrounding them.

I do like his other images: roses, blue birds, geishas, mermaids, pretty women faces, carp in different colors and the like. This cross stitch book has those images. So, it is a book that's different, but fun for a change!
I can just see Harmien or An stitching wild little things from it. LOL And, I love the idea of some of the images for Halloween.

So, I'm recommending this book of Hardy's tatoo art for cross stitch. It's a refreshing and sometimes shocking change of pace. But, really, don't we all need a kick for fun once in a while? It's especially fun to get a smallie like these tatoo tots for Halloween...

5 stars for a funky little x-stitch book/ebook

Deb/YourBookishDame

Marie Antoinette~"Becoming..." and My Needlework Sampler About Her

2011-10-03T12:01:00.001-04:00

Published by: Random House

Pages: 480

Released: August 2011

The Book Summary :

This enthralling confection of a novel, the first in a new trilogy, follows the transformation of a coddled Austrian archduchess into the reckless, powerful, beautiful queen Marie Antoinette.

"Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?"

Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.

Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen.

Filled with smart history, treacherous rivalries, lavish clothes, and sparkling jewels, Becoming Marie Antoinette will utterly captivate fiction and history lovers alike.

The Dame's Review :

Anyone who's been my friend a long time (more than 8 years in blogging circles, happily) knows my obsession with Marie Antoinette. I first "met" her when I was a pre-teen, precociously searching for real life princesses and queens after having exhausted, for the time-being, my beloved fairytales. Antoinette immediately became my favorite. She was the real Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty, after all. Her life of tragedy and unrequited love touched an ember in my heart that lingers, still.

Any book that starts with "Marie Antoinette" has my immediate reaction. My hand springs out to grasp it, and it's mine forever. It could be the worst written book on earth, but it's destined for my library just the same!

Fortunately, I'm very pleased to report this book, "Becoming Marie Antoinette," is not the worst book written about her; rather, it's one of the best novels I've read! From the early sentences in which we're introduced to the voice and mind of Antoinette to the final wishes of her heart and mind, Juliet Grey captured her essence and my imagination. This is a gorgeously covered book I'm delighted to have on my library shelf.

Marie's childhood with its transformations and enlightenment are subtlely rendered in this beautifully written novel. Without any doubt, her all-consuming desire to please her oft-times distant and withholding mother plays a primary role in Marie's life. She spends her life in isolation from the mother, desiring only to make her proud, longing for her love and communication. This aspect of Antoinette's life has always been tender and pitiful to me. What child hasn't wished the same. But, in a world where these relationships are put aside for the greater duties, it seems cruel and heartbreaking. Ms Grey deals with the situation marvelously. Antoinette's loneliness and shunning at Court is well integrated, also.

Court descriptions: decor, the required manners and sly "niceities" of the French aristocracy, and insights into the Dauphin are drawn in a new and interesting way by Grey. That's difficult to do, given all that's been written on the subject! I also, as always, love to read about the fashions and finery that accompanied Marie Antoinette. These things just never bore me.

I'm not ordinarily a huge fan of contemporary "historical fiction" in the weighty "romance" genre; but, you will find the highest quality of the original intent for this fiction in Juliet Grey's novel. I found it well-researched, not over-blown with melodrama and too grand dialog or gratuitous sex scenes! Thankfully.

The inner dialog and narration of Antoinette is pitch perfect. It captivated me. This is a kindly and humane painting of the young girl that is sympathetic and lovely to read. I like Ms Grey's style.

I have only one reservation to report: I learned German growing up in Nurenburg and Munich. (Marie's original tongue!) I've had no French lessons except those my French-speaking children taught me! One of the things that broke the rhythm for me in this novel was the use of many french or french-related words. I would suggest, perhaps, a feature in her next book that provides a dictionary.

This book is the first in a trilogy. So, you may want to get your copy now. I think you'll find it's good reading for a cozy Fall season.

4 1/2 twinkling French stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame
http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/
http://lavenroseramblings.blogspot.com/

PS:
A picture of my still unfinished design of "Marie Antoinette Sampler" which I'm picking up again!

Not the best light & I don't iron my linen until the piece is finished. The fabric color is true, above, though.

Here's An Updated Pic. of My Stitching Room!

Not much changed, except note small, very small passage way into it! :p

Stitchers: It's National Dog Day! Do You Know Where Your Doggie Is??

2011-08-26T14:55:00.000-04:00

My Anthony and Clara

Key West, FL

2009

As you can see, Clara's pretty much a "Daddy's Dog." She and Anthony have a close relationship. She tells him what to do and he's good about minding her. In fact, he's pretty much attentive to her every need. Every night she lets him know when it's 9:30PM, and it's time for her walk around the neighborhood to look for rabbits. She's pretty much unrelenting until he gets up from his easy chair, puts down his tv control, hooks her harness up and follows her outside.

Clara has several tags and signs and "words" to let us know what she wants. If we don't get her messages right the first time we question her, she'll just sit quietly. If we hit the right word, she'll jump down, twirl around and look at us expectantly. As I said, she's good at getting what she wants from us.

We've had Clara running our household for about 9 years now. And, we love her so much!

Recommendations if you're thinking of getting a Yorkie:

1) They rule the roost, even if you have other dogs...and no matter how large those dogs are.

2) They like treats, all day long!

3) They're loyal and they're protective.

4) They are hunters by genetics, so they will take after rabbits, squirrels, frogs, lizards, iguanas, and anything else small that moves relatively fast! So, better be prepared with a harness and a good grip on it.

5) Always use a harness-type leash. The neck-type will crush their esophagus and will damage them.

6) They demand attention at some part of the day, but will sleep quietly next to you if you're reading, blog writing or watching tv...or any other activity.

7) They're social. Love everyone who comes in the house, and want to be picked up, or at least recognized and petted...a little.

8) They get along well with children.

What's your dog?

Happy National Dog Day!!

Long time, no see. Wondering how you all are doing these days, sticher friends.

Hugs, Deb/LavenderRose

Hemingway's Birthday~ We Remember You, Always...

2011-07-21T22:17:00.000-04:00

Interesting additional cover!

Guest blogger Paula McLain, the author of The Paris Wife reminisces about Ernest Hemingway on today, his birthday.

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in a wrought-iron bed on the second floor of a Queen Anne house in Oak Park, Illinois. The house still stands, as does the bed--but what’s even more a marvel is that 112 years after his birth, Hemingway himself is still going strong. His life and work are as interesting and relevant as ever, and, well, the man seems to be everywhere. This year alone he’s the subject of my novel, The Paris Wife; an HBO biopic in production, Hemingway and Gelhorn, about his fiery third marriage (Clive Owen will play Hemingway opposite Nicole Kidman, James Gandolfini produces); and Midnight in Paris, a feature film by Woody Allen, which opened the Cannes Film Festival in April and is currently enchanting audiences nationwide.

What Hemingway would have thought about all the hubbub, I wouldn’t try to guess. Though he spent most of his adult life cutting a very public figure, he placed a high value on solitude, and had an abiding fondness for the deep privacy of nature. He spent nearly every summer of his boyhood in Michigan’s north woods, and made his first trip there when he was just seven weeks old. The journey north was by no means easy at the turn-of-the-century. First there was the train from Oak Park into Chicago, then a horse-drawn cab to the pier on Lake Michigan where the Hemingways boarded a steamer to Petoskey. Once there, they took two different rail lines, and finally climbed into a rowboat that deposited them at a lovely piece of lakefront property Ernest’s doctor father had purchased the summer before. A cottage was eventually built on the site, dubbed Windemere by Ernest’s romantically-inclined mother, and the growing family returned there summer after summer, creating memories that later fed Hemingway’s imagination (see the Nick Adams stories in particular), and his soul.

Unlike the author’s Oak Park birthplace, Windemere isn’t open to the public. Hemingway’s nephew Ernie Mainland still spends summers there, and privileges privacy as much as his famous uncle. This past spring, I was lucky enough to be invited to the cottage for a brief personal tour. I was asked not to take any photographs, but stood for a long time by the hearth, where Ernest and his first wife Hadley dragged mattresses to make a cozy honeymoon nest in 1921. Opposite the hearth is a doorjamb with pencil tics recording the heights of the six Hemingway children. There was Ernest at age 14, standing 5’4 inches. And there he was at 17, having “sprung up,” as they say, to 5’11.’’ I confess I got goose bumps at this simple but profound sign of his coming of age. Scores of years later, I stand to salute Hemingway in his manifold complexity--the boy he was, the man he became, the author we still have much to learn from, and the myth we may never pierce through, no matter how we peer and scrutinize.

Happy birthday, Ernest.

The Dame Says:
Happy birthday, indeed, dear Ernest. You were a comet in the literary night, but one who's left an everlasting trail for us to enjoy.

There are a series of new non-fiction books written about Hemingway, his life, his wives, and his close association with F. Scott Fitzgerald, recently. A couple of weeks ago BookTV sponsored an indepth, riviting interview with professors and writers on Hemingway, as well as a brief tour of Key West and his home there.

On another pleasant front, the movie, "In Love and War" detailed below is one of the most beautifully romantic movies of recent years.

Netflix WriteUp:

This romantic historical drama is based on the diaries of Agnes Von Kurowsky, who while serving as a nurse during World War I had a love affair with a young man who would later become one of the great literary figures of the 20th century, Ernest Hemingway. In 1918, 18-year-old Hemingway has volunteered to fight in the great war; while he goes into battle imagining it to be a lark, he soon discovers that the realities of warfare are far more grim, and during a shelling attack in Italy, his leg is severely wounded. Hemingway has taken a great deal of shrapnel, and the doctors at the field hospital decide that amputation would be the quickest and most effective way to deal with the injury. However, the idea of losing a leg horrifies Hemingway, and he pleads with Agnes (Sandra Bullock), the Austrian nurse looking after him, not to let the doctors cut off his limb. Moved by Hemingway's concern, Agnes convinces the doctors to pursue other treatments, and she looks after him during his long and difficult convalescence. Love and passion bloom between the young and naive soldier and the 26-year-old nurse, but while he's eager for her to return home with him as he follows his muse as a writer, she regards him not as the love of her life but as a passing fling and thinks that he's too young to marry. Agnes eventually sends Hemingway a "Dear John" letter; later Hemingway would use her as the basis for several characters in his novels and short stories, not always flatteringly. In Love and War was directed by Richard Attenborough, previously an Academy Award winner for Gandhi. - Mark Deming, Rovi

Dame's Final Word :

Please join me in celebrating Hemingway's birthday today by indulging in a reading of one of his short stories, or a start of one of his beautiful books...or even viewing this beautiful movie, above.

Deborah/YourBookishDame

Revisiting "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy~ In light of Jaycee Dugard...

2011-07-21T01:37:00.001-04:00

Overview and Book Summary:

NATIONAL BESTSELLERPULITZER PRIZE WINNERNational Book Critic's Circle Award FinalistA New York Times Notable BookOne of the Best Books of the YearThe Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, The Denver Post, The Kansas City Star, Los Angeles Times, New York, People, Rocky Mountain News, Time, The Village Voice, The Washington Post

The searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece.
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-—and each other.The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.

Winner of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
*This overview taken from Barnes & Noble booksite.

A Couple of Trailers:

Not easy to hear this first one!

My Review:

In keeping with Cormac McCarthy's style of writing, "The Road" is another masterpiece that causes us to look into the darkest moments of the human soul. It is the razor's edge of love and relationships that McCarthy is interested in. It's the "thing" that makes us survive...the non-descript element that keeps a human spirit going after all else seems lost and useless, and death may seem the better avenue to peace and deliverance from hardships.

"The Road" is a story that examines this spirit of mankind that causes some to stare into the face of defeat and inhumanity, and to contain the longing; not just the will, but the longing, to live on. Some seem to have this unchangeable belief in the goodness of mankind and creation.

"The Road," is a study of those who have the gift of endurance of heart. Some of those who have survived the most horrendous trials, both physical and psychological in history, share this nebulous quality of a pure, childlike heart that continues to hold on to hope in the face of the contrary. It is a hope that's anchored in a love that is unshakable; and, it seems to me that love nearly always has a link to another person.

What makes a survivor? When I saw and heard the recent interview by Diane Sawyer of Jaycee Dugard, I knew I was staring into the face of that pure, childlike, believing person/survivor. She represents to me that quality of man/womankind that faces the terrifying and with only the small candlelight of "hope," overcomes the evil. Jaycee said it was the "small hope" in her heart that kept her alive. Hope...

Her hope bloomed from Love. It was the love of and for her mother that kept Jaycee alive. It was the hope of seeing her mother again that saved Jaycee, kept her calm and comforted, and saved her little girls. And, it was the love shown to her by her mother that made Jaycee the mother she became despite the fact that she was isolated from the world and abused. While Jaycee says that she's not sure about God in any form, yet, she knows her survival had to do with the belief and hope of seeing her mother again.

This is a testament to Corinthians 13: "...Love never fails....And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Love never dies.

This is the message of "The Road," even as we sift through the ashes and darkness, and this is the message of Jaycee Dugard.

Please stop by in the coming month when I'll be reviewing "A Stolen Life."

Have you read "The Road" or seen the movie? Share your thoughts with us...any comments will be posted on this entry on this front page! We'll all love to hear from you.

Deborah/TheBookishDame~LavenderRose

Pawnography! "License To Pawn" by Rick Harrison

2011-07-19T18:27:00.000-04:00

Quite often my sweet husband takes a nosedive into the unknown and takes up with a new adventure/obsession with something "strange." I found this serendipitous oddity a very attractive characteristic when we first met (I know...red flag??), and frankly, it's had its ups and downs on my last nerve over the years. All in all; however, there's never a dull moment with Anthony if you just sit back and brace yourself.

The show is mind-boggling. As I sit in my little apple green recliner writing reviews while DH watches "his" shows, I'm wont to look up once in a while to see what's going on.

Against my better judgement, sometimes I'm captured by the absurdities of men: Men in the greater outdoors hunting with lots of equipment (guns, bows & steel tipped arrows, whistles, bright florescent suits, misshapen, weird hats & assorted other "gear"), excavating big mountains with equipment they don't know how to maneuver & in icy weather, clambering about and becoming lost without food in crumbling old caves with their teen aged daughters, panning for gold in muddy streams and gleefully coming up with minute particles which value is less than the cost of the pan, or pulling up by hand man-eating fish in mosquito infested jungles... Recently, I've been pulled in by pawn shops on the Tube! Ugh! This wars against every bone in my WASPish, DAR body, and would disgrace my family. It's really tantamount to watching a strip show!

Primary among such shows is Rick Harrison's straight from Las Vegas "Pawn Stars." Pawn Stars is a fabulous program! I love it, and it's become my latest dirty little secret...now out in the open! We've agreed it's the only pawn show we'll watch.

Rick is an intelligent, witty and well-informed guy who actually makes wise choices about some seriously fabulous items brought to his shop. The experts Rick brings in to evaluate some of the items are so learned they add a dimension of knowledge and intelligence that rivals experts I've seen and heard from auction houses and museums in Boston. A couple of them are experienced in museum collections and authentic documents of early America and England...so interesting to hear and watch. I have learned a good deal from Rick, his dad and these experts.

One of the most fetching (did I use that word?) and hilarious things about the show is Chumly, Rick's doofus nephew. Chum is a complete novice at pawn, and life, it seems. He has no idea what's "good" and what's "fake," what are stolen goods, what's trash and what's treasure. He is a guy whose life is chockful of accidents and mishaps; i.e., nearly everything he touches falls apart, breaks down, or costs the shop money. In fact, Chum nearly costs his grandad more money than the shop brings in on some days! In the latest episode, Chumly test flies a valuable, antique kite and snags it on a highwire electrical tower...you flew it--you can't get it down--you bought it! And, poor Chum is always shocked by these manifistations of Murphy's Law in his life.

Chumly is the fall guy for the show, and makes it all worthwhile to watch...just for the hilarity of it. Rick's dad is also sooo funny as he glumly and stoically mumbles his way through all the trials and troubles of the shop and Chum. And, Big Hoss, Rick's son, who is assigned to watch over and teach Chum, as well as to be the Ass't Mgr., lumbers along making a couple of wise choices on the way, but mostly watching Chumly mess up and telling on him. Honestly, Chum is the best comedic character on tv.

All this to give you some kind of intro. into Rick Harrison's new book "License To Pawn" which I wholeheartedly recommend for your sweethearts and you when you want a different ride on the wild side.

Book Summary from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Press:

In Las Vegas, there’s a family-owned business called the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, run by three generations of the Harrison family: Rick; his son, Big Hoss; and Rick’s dad, the Old Man. Now License to Pawn takes readers behind the scenes of the hit History show Pawn Stars and shares the fascinating life story of its star, Rick Harrison, and the equally intriguing story behind the shop, the customers, and the items for sale.

Rick hasn’t had it easy. He was a math whiz at an early age, but developed a similarly uncanny ability to find ever-deepening trouble that nearly ruined his life. With the birth of his son, he sobered up, reconnected with his dad, and they started their booming business together.

License to Pawn also offers an entertaining walk through the pawn shop’s history. It’s a captivating look into how the Gold & Silver works, with incredible stories about the crazy customers and the one-of-a-kind items that the shop sells. Rick isn’t only a businessman; he’s also a historian and keen observer of human nature. For instance, did you know that pimps wear lots of jewelry for a reason? It’s because if they’re arrested, jewelry doesn’t get confiscated like cash does, and ready money will be available for bail. Or that WWII bomber jackets and Zippo lighters can sell for a freakishly high price in Japan? Have you ever heard that the makers of Ormolu clocks, which Rick sells for as much as $15,000 apiece, frequently died before forty thanks to the mercury in the paint?

Rick also reveals the items he loves so much he’ll never sell. The shop has three Olympic bronze medals, a Patriots Super Bowl ring, a Samurai sword from 1490, and an original Iwo Jima battle plan. Each object has an incredible story behind it, of course. Rick shares them all, and so much more—there’s an irresistible treasure trove of history behind both the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop and the life of Rick Harrison.

From the Bookish Dame's perspective this is a no-brainer book purchase. Everyone will love it...you, your husband/significant other, your teen aged kids, and the neighbors!

5 stars to the TV Show, and to this book

The Bookish Dame/Deborah

PS: Have you ever been into a pawn shop? Ever pawned anything?

"Megan's Way" ~ A Novel of Love, Leavings and Choices by Melissa Foster

2011-07-18T15:42:00.002-04:00

Catch Melissa Foster's Summer Blog Tour on her website at:

http://www.melissafoster.com/

Book Notes:

"Megan's Way is a fine and fascinating read that many will find hope in." Midwest Book Review

The Megan's Way film will be entered in the Sundance Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, South By Southwest Festival (SXSW In Austin Texas), Amsterdam Film Festival, as well as New York, LA , and Miami (just to name a few). This is a "Fest-Best" type of film and expected to make a major impact on festivals world wide.

My Review:
I first want to share with my readers the personal perspective I bring to this review of "Megan's Way." Some 29 years ago I was widowed as a young woman with three children under the ages of 9. My precious young husband died of melanoma that had metastasized to major organs: we had several months to prepare for his death. This came after the original cancer of 11 years in the first year of our marriage. So, I'm someone well acquainted with cancer's toll on a person and those who love them. I read this book with that intimate awareness.

Melissa Foster has given us a true-to-life rendering of the process of dying. From the earliest stages of the person's acknowledgement of impending death, to their release of loved ones, their body and spirit; to the angst and responses of those who live with and love them, Ms Foster paints a portrait of the struggles and survivals. She understands the pain of those left behind and the awareness of those who have to do the leaving.

Through her very beautiful and tender portrayals, we come to know Megan and her intimate friends as if they were family. We get a clear and close up understanding of Megan's loving and tumultuous relationship with her teen aged daughter, Olivia. And, we are given unique insights into Megan's personality, thoughts, fears and death and dying processes from her own perspective, as well as from the perspectives of her friends and daughter. Ms Foster is spot on in her every detail of this experience with death, in my experience.

I found Melissa's writing, however, to be somewhat stilted in her efforts to get across all the points of the process, and then the major theme of the choices we have about our own death and dying. There is something lost in the flow of a story as the book progresses when it starts to be overtaken by a series of details on these numerous processes and points of dying, rather than having it more balanced within a storyline. This, however, does not take very much from the book or enjoyment of it in total, since I think it's worthy on many other levels.

While Megan considers her options of ceasing any other chemo or "prolonging" measures, and as she also contemplates the virtues of taking into her own hands the method and timing of her death, we are allowed to witness her conflicts. This option to choose is one that many come face-to-face with. Ms Foster gives us a balanced and open view of a woman who looks boldly into the face of death, weighs her options and takes into loving consideration the daughter she will leave behind.

The complexity of "Megan's Way" made this novel one that I loved reading. Certainly, it rang true to me in so many ways. It also touched my heart with its attempts to bring readers into a center of meaning and choices that will be an evitability in most of our lives.

The intertwined tale of friends and surrogate family lends itself to be a realistic possibility in light of the "secrets" that people tend to hold close in relationships. While one is living, the secret is easily kept and the "family" can pretend to overlook and rationalize...but once a foundational/pivotal person is going to be removed--the structure that holds it all together is jeopardized and must be delicately "readjusted." This is an element I'm also familiar with, personally, and one I thought Ms Foster handled elegantly.

I recommend your choosing to read "Megan's Way" before it's made into the movie for the Sundance Film Festival. It's going to have a great impact! And, it's a very enjoyable read on the order of a Jodi Picoult novel.

Strongly urge you to read more about Melissa Foster and her outreach programs, her newest book "Chasing Amy," and other books, and her social community for women called "The Women's Nest."
http://www.melissafoster.com/

4.5 stars from TheBookishDame

Paranormal YA Book: "Hereafter" is ghostly love story...

2011-06-12T00:39:00.000-04:00

Book Publisher's Summary:

Can there truly be love after death?

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life—or her actual death—she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive.

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.

About the Author:

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Tara Hudson graduated with a degree in law, mostly because she believed all the horror stories about English majors and their careers in the food-service industry. Luckily, she soon remembered how much she loved telling ghost stories, particularly to her girlfriends who liked visiting abandoned cemeteries as much as she did. Tara currently lives in Oklahoma with her husband, son, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets.

My Review:

Beautiful cover, ghostly, isn't it? Another one of those pale girls with long hair and their backs turned to the reader, leaving us to fantasize about how beautiful she is. I like the idea, frankly. Somehow seeing faces makes me feel the book is an old-fashioned romance novel. But, now, seeing this sort of cover gives away the idea of a spirit-driven story. Or, paranormal theme as it were.

Young adult literature is stepping up, and has been in recent years, taking its place in literary circles. It seems to me that we have to give credit to dear Harry Potter for this revival. I'm one of those who cast aspersions on it to begin with but I'm a believer now! Once I dained to read Harry, it was YA lit. for me, forever...

"Hereafter" is a book that reads like a dream. It picks us up immediately and carries us through the horrors of gasping for breath, through the dark waters of drowning, and the fear of sleeping. Chilling.

I enjoyed this book and the idea of a ghostly love story that redeems both the girl and boy who overcome their watery grave and would be grave. Bound in a need to find redemption, these characters are well developed and sympathetic.

Tara Hudson, in this writing of her first book, is an author I was left hoping would write more, very soon. I found her a capable and interesting writer. Her imagination caught me up immediately. Her success at drawing the reader into the life of her characters was done in a seamless and effective way. I was simply captured by Amelia and Joshua...their love, and their commitment to each other as they strive to uncover the mysteries that consume them. Her sense and reinactment of the ghostly and ethereal is wonderful.

Ms. Hudson's handling of the tension between the couple and the villian who attacks them makes for a novel that brings just the right amount of horror and anxiety to the mix.

This is a beautiful young love story tinged with sadness and light horror... I bought the whole thing without reservations and found it a good, "get away" novel. It will be great for the YA crowd, and their moms will love it, too. In fact, I'm sending my copy along to my 30-something daughter to read!

Another note: The inside of the book smells heavenly. I wonder if HarperTeen is perfuming their paper for the YA crowd? I love the smell of the paper.... Yummy

Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think about the cover and what story it tells about the book before you read the cover summary.

All in all 4 stars for a first time effort.

Happy reading this week!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

A Bookish Libraria:The Bookish Dame Reviews: Books on My "To Read" Shelf from the UK

2011-06-05T03:40:00.000-04:00

A Bookish Libraria:The Bookish Dame Reviews: Books on My "To Read" Shelf from the UK: "Book Summary : Irene Stanley thought her world had come to an end when her teenage son, Shep, is murdered. Daniel Robbin, who had spent ..."

Dystopian Novels Foretell Disaster! "Life As We Knew It," "The Dead and The Gone," and "This World We Live In," by Susan B. Pfeffer

2011-06-05T01:01:00.000-04:00

"THE DEAD AND THE GONE" by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Library Journal Review:

An asteroid knocks the moon closer to Earth, and every conceivable natural disaster occurs. Seventeen-year-old Alex Morales's parents are missing and presumed drowned by tsunamis. Left alone, he struggles to care for his sisters Bri, 14, and Julie, 12. Things look up as Central Park is turned into farmland and food begins to grow. Then worldwide volcanic eruptions coat the sky with ash and the land freezes permanently. People starve, freeze, or die of the flu. Only the poor are left in New York—a doomed island—while the rich light out for safe towns inland and south. The wooden, expository dialogue and obvious setup of the first pages quickly give way to the well-wrought action of the snowballing tragedy. The mood of the narrative is appropriately frenetic, somber, and hopeful by turns. Pfeffer's writing grows legs as the terrifying plot picks up speed, and conversations among the siblings are realistically fluid and sharp-edged. The Moraleses are devout Catholics, and though the church represents the moral center of the novel, Pfeffer doesn't proselytize. The characters evolve as the city decomposes, and the author succeeds in showing their heroism without making them caricatures of virtue. She accurately and knowingly depicts New York City from bodegas to boardrooms, and even the far-fetched science upon which the novel hinges seems well researched. This fast-paced, thoughtful story is a good pick for melodrama fiends and reluctant readers alike.—Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library

My Review:

I found these YA audiobooks while browsing my local library's downloadable media, recently. I'd never really heard of Susan B. Pfeffer, so I had no idea what I was in for but the story premises sounded good. Now that I've discovered her, there's no turning back for me! I'm a huge fan.

Dystopian novels are my newest craving and I'm always looking for good ones. It seems to me that YA fiction is hitting that mark best. The authors are rising to the challenge, and their work is stellar...interesting and engaging. With historical foundations such as "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, which I reviewed last month, the young adult genre has a "grandmothered" path laid for them.

It's difficult for me to listen to audiobooks. I find them sleep inducing for one thing, and they make me want to do something with my hands for another thing..."idle hands are the devil's workshop" my grandmother taught me...so I want to stitch or knit! When I do find something to do it often distracts me from the book! And, further, it makes me wish I were reading the book instead of listening. Hence, a little anxiety accompanies these things for me and I don't often make use of them.

This time, I listened attentively while making jewelry and found I was lost in the books, hardly knowing what I was making! These books are very special. The narrator is perfect for the main character, Miranda. Her voice reached to the heart and captured the true essence of Miranda. This alone made the books more believable.

Ms Pfeffer clearly is a veteran writer. Her dialog is perfectly pitched and her characterization is excellent. It reaches an ordinary cadence to the listener/reader making each character both real and full-bodied. They were individuals that I felt close to and loved knowing. I was, of course, especially fond of Miranda, but I also found myself protective of her mother, who tried so hard to maintain a safe and "normal" existence for her children amidst the decay that leached life all around them. All of the characters lend themselves to one's interest and concern. I've rarely found this in novels of any genre.

In these novels a meteor has crashed into the moon and set the Earth into a disaster of such proportions that life hangs by a thread. The sun is hidden, ash and smoke covers everything, thousands of people die and continue to die from catastrophic disasters. Without the sun the plants and crops are contaminated and fail, and such common things as running water and electricity become non-existent. Food becomes rationed and is minimal. Miranda and her brothers scavenge abandoned homes for such simple items as toilet paper, books and soap.

Relationships take on a new significance in this uncertain new world. People become more precious and a new baby becomes even more a treasure. Sickness and any sort of medical condition becomes a disaster waiting to happen with no hospitals and no medical supplies. When one of the family is seriously injured, Miranda is faced with a moral dilemma that could affect all of them.

All of these books are very special reads or audiobooks, whichever your choice may be. While I haven't read "The Dead and The Gone" yet, I hope to as soon as I can get a copy of it.

Ms Pfeffer is a very gifted writer who makes characters rise above the ordinary. She is more than imaginative, she's able to create worlds that are so believable you could walk into them in a blink of the eye. It was frightening at times to hear the struggles Miranda and her family were enduring...making me wonder if life after a horrendous disaster of such proportions would be viable for the elderly and infirm at all.

"Foretelling" and eye-opening, these are books you really don't want to miss this year. Dystopian books at their best.

5 stars

Here is a cover preview of Pfeffer's new book to be released in September. I can hardly wait, and am hoping for a copy to review. Stand by!

Please take a moment to visit her site to see her other books. She's quite a prolific author of YA fiction. And, she has amassed considerable awards for the books above reviewed books.

http://susanbethpfeffer.blogspot.com/

Happy reading!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

BACK IN THE STACKS: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

2011-05-11T14:05:00.000-04:00

BACK IN THE STACKS:

I chose this classic, award-winning novel for my Bookish Libraria Blog as a "Back in the Stacks" review book this past week.

It's actually, unbeknownst to me prior to my reading it, a dystopian novel about the coming of age and the coming to wisdom and understanding of a young boy in a futuristic society. A book I missed reading in school, but which my children were exposed to in my own childrens' time, this is somewhat dated in spots, I felt, but held the same sort of message that we hear and see in our own world and society today through a plethora of young adult literature. That alone makes it worthy of reading!

It's a small book, but every page is profound. Lois Lowry knows how to write exactly like my Rhetoric professor wanted us to write...with precision and acuracy. Her every word has a purpose and meaning. And, in that instance, we discover that we need to pay attention, acutely, to what she's telling us. This is a serious book with a warning for young and old, alike.

I found it most poignant that Ms Lowry wrote "The Giver" for young people at their pivitol age. It's a book that is meant to make them consider the society they are apart of without a doubt, but it's also meant to make them question the world and the ways of life they've taken for granted. It hopes, it seems, to help them shed the scales from their eyes and take the plugs from their ears...to have the courage to rise up again the norm. For that alone, I found it worthy of the Newberry Prize.

It seems to me that as adults we fear young people. We want to corral them, to keep them in check, to make sure they don't skate board near the Library. There's alot about them that reeks of uncontrollable power and unhinged disaster. There's impulse on edge, and the half-here-and-half-there sense of what's going to really damage their lives and the lives around them, and what's not. Because of this, teens and pre-teens have this magical quality to them...this freshness of vision coupled with this wildness of vision like the boys in "Lord of the Flies," like those vampires and psychics and witches they "wanna be" in the YA novels.

In "The Giver" we see such power in the young protagonist. He is pent up and on the verge of destruction in several instances. We see him risk breaking serious rules only to see him pull back and turn to the side of wisdom to protect those he loves. This is the quality that Lois Lowry is telling the young to emulate, this is the hidden treasure that the Giver has to offer~this potential to create a new system lovingly, or simply to destroy mindlessly.

Ms Lowry acknowledges the terrible strength and power of the young adult to be victorious or to vanquish and offers an instruction of vision, values and valor. In a society where everything is ordered, equal, peaceful and happy...life is not valued, and people deemed less than fit for society are done away with like old newspaper.

"The Giver" is a book worthy of literary and humanitarian awards, and it's a book worthy of being the classic it's become.

I strongly recommend "The Giver" to everyone, young and old, who hasn't already read it...and even to those who have. It's a good time to reread this book. It's an especially good time to read it...

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"More Than Good-Bye...As One Journey Ends, Another Begins" by S. Carol Crovo

2011-05-09T13:09:00.001-04:00

What happens when we die? Have we been here before, and if we made mistakes in our lives, will we get an opportunity to make them up to our loved ones? This is the stuff of S. Carol Crovo's new novel, "More Than Good-Bye~As One Journey Ends, Another Begins..." She poses the questions and spins a story that will answer these questions in her own way.

Through the eyes and lives of her main character, Jane, who has died suddenly and is given a second chance at her own life, we see how one can become a more fulfilled person by experiencing life to the fullest with love, joy, acceptance of sorrows, forgiveness and sharing a spiritual kindness. Expressing love to others becomes a significant key to Jane's happiness and completeness. Her life and her connection to her loved ones is made more significant, infinitely more meaningful; and, she's able to "relive" it without feeling she's left messages to them undone. We learn along with Jane that love is the answer to life's meaning.

S. Carol Crovo writes her novel from a gentle and caring perspective. Her sense of timing in the character interactions is spot on, as is the fleshing out of her characters. We come to believe the people and places of the novel can actually be found somewhere in mid-America. Jane is an "everywoman" with the mind of any woman who has died without being able to say good-bye to her children and husband.

I was particularly interested in Ms Crovo's handling of Jane's connection with the spiritual. By means of "Golden Boy" who served as guide on her relived journey, there was less confusion and more a sense of clarity in the story as a whole. This clever device was one that was not intrusive, but fit the storyline perfectly.

"More Than Good-Bye" is a gentle and sweet book. Written by an author who has a message of hope and meaning. This is not a book for those seeking a deep literary experience, however, but for those seeking an answer to what it might be like to be able to "come back" and relive their lives. It is a sort of confirmation of life in another stage and dimension~life continuing on after this earthly existence. I must be clear that it is not a Christian novel, however, rather it's a book that works to transcent religions in a "what-if" manner in order to reach a wider audience.

If you're looking for a novel that's one to sail through and that may answer some of your musings about life after death, this one might interest you. It's a charming book that's light-hearted for the most part, as well as being a map of dealing with tragedy and loss. It might bring some comfort in the loss of a loved one to a sudden death without having time for final good-byes.

While I cannot recommend this book to all my readers, I can recommend it to those mentioned above.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Insanely Fantastic Book! "INZANESVILLE" by Jo Ann Beard

2011-05-05T19:33:00.000-04:00

Book Summary:

The beguiling fourteen year old narrator of Inzanesville is a late bloomer. Even in her small midwestern city, where modesty is prized and self-assertion is a faux pas, she flies under the radar--a sidekick, a third wheel, a marching band dropout, a disastrous babysitter, the kind of girl whose eureka moment is the discovery that "fudge" can't be said with an English accent.

Luckily, she has a best friend, a similarly undiscovered girl with whom she shares the everyday adventures--sometimes harrowing, sometimes embarrassing--of a 1970's American girlhood, incidents through which a world is revealed and character is forged.

In time, their friendship is tested--by their families' claims on them, by clique of popular girls who stumble upon them as if they were found objects, and by the first startling, subversive intimations of womanhood.

With dry, irrepressible wit and piercing observations, Jo Ann Beard shows us that in the seemingly quiet streets of America's innumerable Zanesvilles is a world of wonders, and that within the souls of the awkward and the overlooked often burns something radiant.
About the Author:

Jo Ann Beard is the author of The Boys of My Youth and the recipient of fellowships from the New York Foundation of the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. She teaches nonfiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College and lives in Rhinebeck, New York.

What Others Say:

"Sixty years after Salinger's portrait of a sensitive young man, we have a sensitive young woman that is every bit as poignant and powerful as "The Catcher in the Rye."

My Review:

"Inzanesville" is a steady walk through the mire and joys of insanity called adolescence while trying to navigate the delicate, treacherous landmines of a dysfunctional family. Inzanesville, a euphemistic "insanesville" abruptly draws us into the place and time of what we understand is going to be a crazy ride and a gripping story.

Jo Ann Beard is enchanting and brilliant with an uncanning frankness that's irresistible. She is an earthy writer, one who doesn't use flowery language and whose story packs more punch for it. An author of grass roots, when she writes she shows us with descriptions moments and places we can remember and see as flashbacks from our own lives. This is a skill so rare in fiction today, it's a wonder to experience.

She had me laughing through my tears. This timeless use of humor to cover pain is piercing and effective. Her prose is tight and she doesn't mince words to get across her message as there's no time to waste in gift wrapping such a ribauld herstory in anything other than straight talk that magnifies its impact and hilarity. At the same time it's an unflichingly beautiful tale in its realism, it's also one of angst and emotional suffering...life and circumstances inflicting pain and epiphanies that are the essence of growing up, survived through a warped sense of humor and a mind not given over to the wellsprings of "insanesville."

I asked myself how such a book could be both enjoyable to read and hold such childhood nightmares at the same time. I could only come up with this: A writer of remarkable courage and gifts could only have written this through personal experience.

Ms Beard's protagonist, aptly and coincidentally named Jo "after one of the "Little Women, but not the one who was (her) my favorite--Amy," is wise beyond her years. As the narrator of her own story, Jo brings us along with her in a journey of awakening and a growing up that she must do....her mother having told her it's time she gets beyond being a "late bloomer." What seems sad is that she finally attains this putting aside of childhood, only to give up what's won in what I felt was a sort of acceptance of the inevitable. But, this is generally the outcome of coming-of-age, isn't it? All childhood illusions are crushed, the barriers of innocence and disbelief are torn down and eyes are opened to reality for better or for worse.

I'm walking a tightrope here, being somewhat vague because this is a book that must be read to be grasped in its impact, which is both moving and lasting. Along the difficult road she treads, Jo finds lasting friendship and its meaning, her personal "calling," and a way to work out her emotional struggles and world-view through art. It's delightful to me that she stumbles upon Surrealism and chooses that as her artistic vehicle! She begins to understand her parents, friends and family dynamics, and; consequently, that she has choices to make for her own life.

"Inzanesville" is a book that will touch your heart, make you laugh heartily; one that will stop you dead in your tracks and open your eyes. It will recall to you your own junior high years, absolutely, possibly including that late 60's-early '70's basement den where lots of partying took place! And, if you happen to be one of those unfortunate children who had to tread (perhaps still tread) the inelegant, ugly and treacherous waters of a dysfunctional family, it will give you something to think through. I was particularly impacted by Jo's constant worries nearly every day that her depressed and alcoholic father was planning and attempting suicide.

This book will undoubtedly rank in my Top Ten Favorite Books of 2011. Despite its blend of the tragic with the hilarious, ultimately, it is downright fabulous reading! Jo Ann Beard is a truth-teller, and a court jester of a word spinner tossing out unexpected jolts of humor, catching us off guard; then, as the illusion of laughter begins to crumble, leaving us with a sinking feeling of contemplation.

Do yourself a favor this year and read "Inzanesville" by Jo Ann Beard. It is fabulous!

Please visit Little, Brown & Co.'s link to read an excerpt (and note my Amazon store link for ordering! :]
http://tinyurl.com/63mokr4

Enjoy!

Your Bookish Dame/Deb

Medical Student Shares Stories: "Short White Coat: Lessons from Patients on Becoming a Doctor" by James A. Feinstein, MD

2011-04-09T19:35:00.001-04:00

"Short White Coat: Lessons from Patients on Becoming a Doctor" by James A. Feinstein MD

Publisher: iUniverse
Copyright Date: 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4401-7513-8 (soft cover)
978-1-4401-7514-5 (ebook)
www.iuniverse.com
Pages: 205

Book Summary:

"Most people will, at some point or another, either find themselves dressed in a tiny hospital gown or staring at someone else dressed in a tiny hospital gown. Whether from the perspective of a patient, a family member, or a medical professional, we all have a significant stake in the process of medical education. While numerous memoirs recount physicians' grueling experiences during residency, few focus on the even more formative portion of medical training: the third year of medical school: the clinical year. "Short White Coat..." is the disarmingly honest, yet endearing and sometimes funny account of a medical student's humbling initiation into the world of patient care.

Written during his third year of medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, James Feinstein's Short White Coat uses a series of engaging narrative essays to illustrate the universal life lessons that his very first patients teach him...Along the way, he learns from his own mistakes before discovering the answer to the question that plagues every medical student: "Do I have what it takes to become a doctor?"

About Him:
"James A. Feinstein MD survived medical school and is thriving as a practicing pediatrician."

My Review:

Just two weeks ago, my mother called to say that she was upset. Her face had developed a horrible, sudden case of rosaceae which traveled up into her hair, causing it to fall out. This is a woman who has kept her flawless complexion looking like a 20 year old's, and her thick, wavy hair in the latest styles as long as I can remember. She's now 80 yrs. old and looks 60.

Off she went to a newly recommended doctor who came in, looked at her face (no eye contact), pronounced her problem rosaceae, plucked a few hair strands out of her crown and said, "Yep, that's what happens when you get old. You lose your hair." To which my mother replies, "I'm not really that old." [This she tells me in a choked voice, so I know it's hurt her spirit.] Then he writes her a `script, tosses it to her, and he's gone.

Mom called not to complain about the rosaceae, but to tell me she misses her old doctor, Dr. Marks, who used to look her in the eyes and ask her what was the matter. The one who held her hand and listened before he examined her, respectfully. Dr. Marks, who smiled kindly and told her she'd be fine, and who waved good-bye. He always made her feel nearly cured. He died two years ago.

Short White Coat..." is, in part the culmination of life lessons in story form of how the latter type of doctor learns and develops that which is inherent in his nature, his heart and his soul. While Dr. Feinstein suggests it's his patients who teach him lessons on doctoring, I would argue that it could only be possible if the student had a teachable heart. This young man does, and on each page of his book it glowingly comes in such an unassuming manner that one can only be humbled in the reading. This is not a braggart's self-congratulatory thesis.

James Feinstein's writing is crisp, clean and engaging. There is a joy and hopefulness to his author's voice. `though, when he is despondent, we feel it; and when he's learned an enduring truth; we do, too. This is the sign of a gifted communicator, a worthy author~one we can profit from reading. With each lesson enabled by patients, Dr. Feinstein invites us along his journey of epiphanies. Although some lessons seem at first to be ones we recognize, he sheds new light on them; a fresh perspective that causes us to reach deeper and look again.

The story of Jack and Hannah, a lower middle-class, elderly couple who lived humbly and kept a kitchen garden, is just such a story that touched me profoundly. When my young husband was dying of cancer, I often concerned myself with whether our house was neat and clean enough for visitors; whether I'd say and do the right things to make them comfortable. I always swore to and did keep my sweet husband informed to the letter about his condition and "what was going on." This story taught me a lesson about that and more. It taught me new lessons about dying and being the caretaker that I had missed.

James Feinstein tells of his teacher, Dr. Freedman, a private practitioner, and himself arriving at the couple's home only to be greeted like visiting royalty. Jack happily leads them through a hoarder's delight of a garage, down a foot-worn carpeted, cramped hallway to Hannah's and his bedroom. All the while, Jack is buoyantly offering homegrown veggies, other refreshments, and boisterous conversation. Hannah, on the other hand, is gray-skinned, deplete of energy and uncommunicative~dying.

Young Dr. Feinstein watches as Jack lightly touches Hannah's shoulder in an unexpectedly gentle and love-filled manner. She visibly melts into a peaceful restfulness. As the doctors go with Jack to his kitchen, attempting to tell him to make preparations since Hannah's days are few, Jack continuously cuts Dr. Freedman off with hearty tales of recipes. He refuses to listen or allow the doctor to speak. Rather, as he leads them back through the garage, Jack offers Dr. Freedman two gifts of such insurmountable value their impact causes James Feinstein to understand there was `nothng else he (I) wanted to do more' than to be a doctor. So simple a story, so profound a confirming message.

Dr. James A. Feinstein shares with us a beautiful collection of memories and life lessons. The pages seem to melt away as they are read. This will be one of the most memorable books you'll read in 2011. It's a book to gift your doctor with this year. It's a book your loved ones and friends will thank you for.

Winner of the Reader Views: "Reviewer's Choice Award of 2010"

I highly recommend this book to everyone of all ages.

*Note: Do you have any doctor stories to share with us??? Comment below, and I'll post them on my blog. Thanks!

PS: I hope someone tells Dr. Feinstein I wish him well, and wish he were my doctor.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Cypress House," by Michael Koryta ~ Amps Up the Suspense!

2011-04-08T15:50:00.001-04:00

"The Cypress House" is one of the first novels I'm not sure I will do justice to in a review. It is a book so rich in good writing and suspense that it demands reading to really get a complete sense of how excellent it is. Frankly, Michael Koryta is at the top of authors in this genre, in my opinion, in today's literature.

I am simply exhausted. "The Cypress House" is not a book that allows you to go calmly about your daily business once you've opened it and read the first two paragraphs. I've been fitting it into my schedule, bit by bit, for the last three days, and wishing I could have read it in one sitting. Completely addictive novel...hands down.

Rumors about Michael Koryta's being "one of the best of the best" suspense writers, a quote from Michael Connelly (author of "The Poet," -- a personal favorite), are almost damning him with faint praise, as the saying goes. Koryta is in a league of his own.

He is an artist. His masterful hand, creating time and place, draws one into step with his characters moment by moment, relentlessly. The descriptions Koryta gives are his paintbrush of the reality and truth of things, lying in the minute details. As he mentions the creaky shutters slamming in the wind 'just like the screen door at his old home'...or someting squeaking 'like the swing on the porch' of his father's house, I know exactly what the sound is and where its origin lies. As a Southerner, I see the picture in my head, and I'm there with his characters...visually, in my hearing and viserally. This is only one example of many.

I was drawn into the hearts and minds of Koryta's characters, whether good or evil, and could understand the motives of each. What admirable people the "good guys" are; so worthy of respect, and teachers of morals and virtue. Arlen, the pivitol character, and Paul who are bonded in a sort of father/son companionship, are characters with depth of color, personality and symbolism. Their love interest, the central character, Rebecca, is a young woman caught up in personal struggles and circumstances that ask of her self-sufficiency and criminal wiles not common for women her age.

The reader becomes as entangled in the anxieties and complexities of the characters' problems as they do, even as they seem insurmountable. It is this common bonding under duress that Mr. Koryta so deftly channels that brings us into the situation without our knowing it, until we've become caught up in the horror, ourselves. We become the invisible accomplices with our characters, so that when all is done, our own hearts and minds are as striped to the bare bone as theirs. We are as exhausted as they are. Their triumphs are ours, and their losses, our losses.

Along with his "film noir" story setting in the storm tossed, hurricane season of Florida's Gulf Coast, Michael Koryta also throws us the tangy bit of extra-sensory perception. Arlen has the paranormal gift of seeing the impending, possible death of others. This gift lends another dimension to an already stirling suspense novel. Mr. Koryta has us totally amped-up for the ride...

I could say much more about his expertise as a writer. His use of vocabulary and dialog works to build his characters and their place in the story to perfect pitch. I learned a great deal about the veteran's work program, depression era during post WWI, and the Roosevelt administration. I also learned a bit about a soldier's post traumatic stress syndrome, and its pros and cons. There is so much meat in Koryta's writing.

He magically employs the anthropomorphic technique of natural setting to build suspense and over-hanging doom. A house made of cypress...the wood of coffins, nearly indestructible, and carrying a foreshadowing. The darkness of weather patterns and the damage they reek, as well as the frightening unknowns of the swamp, provide an additional picture of looming danger, as well as the unknown factor of an "act of God," which could turn any plan upside down. Because Koryta employs this powerful technique, we are always set on edge and waiting for the proverbial "shoe to drop." It's excruciatingly wonderful and reminiscent of Faulkner.

"The Cypress House" is a powerful and masterfully written suspense novel. Readers of this genre will, from now on, place Michael Koryta's books among those that they purchase simply on the basis that he wrote them. His first editions will become collectible because he is our next "The Postman Always Rings Twice," suspense author.

His other books include: "So Cold The River," a recent release and,

"Envy The Night," for which he won The LA Times Book Prize for best mystery thriller

Visit his website at: http://www.michaelkoryta.com/

*Please leave a comment if you've read this book, or want to...

Your Bookish Dame/Deborah

"Sing You Home" ~ Jodi Picoult The Review

2011-04-06T17:27:00.000-04:00

Jodi Picoult is the voice of the everyday woman today. While one may not always agree with her, I believe that she attempts to give as complete a perspective of comtemporary issues as any social "observer" can. In "Sing You Home," Jodi has made no exception.

Like the message or not. Jodi is what used to be known in ancient times as a "scop." Scop means a bard or news-carrier from Anglo-Saxson England. It was a word practically obsolete by the 14th c., but revived again in the 18th c. It is a definition of those who carried news and stories from town to town in ancient cities before people could read or write. What I mean to say here is that Ms Picoult will be known, I believe, as an author who recorded our contemporary times and social struggles in such a way that the general population could understand them...like a scop who stopped in villages and spoke around fire gatherings giving the latest news of the "world."

"Sing You Home," is a controversial novel. And, it is a good one. The characters are real; their feelings and personal struggles are heavy. Though you may not agree with every decision they make, you can understand why they make them, ultimately. My daughter who has experienced the personal pain and emotional upheavals associated with IVF, told me she had to put the book down. She was moved to tears, relating to the reality that Ms Picoult wrote into her characters. She was hit once again with the emotional passages she had walked. "How can she tell about something so intimate?" she wanted to know. That's the gift Jodi Picoult has. The gift of conveying the realities of emotional pain, horror, love and healing...the conditions of life.

In "Sing You Home," the story guides us through a marriage that disintegrates and then works its way around to something more interesting. We learn how innovative therapies such as music can reach an otherwise locked-up teenager. And, we find that a person of age doesn't mean they are unwilling to learn and be valuable contributors to other's lives. While it's unrealistic to expect everyone to agree with decisions made by Picoult's characters, we are given an opportunity to envision the situations that many encounter in our society with it's alternative choices.

Jodi Picoult is an author of significant writing skills. It is clear that she is capable of reaching a wide range of readers. Her goal is to do just that. I believe she is more than capable of narrowing her scope to a more specific following, even to her own personal perspectives alone...but she choses to reach more people with views that are as multi-faceted as possible. This is the gift of a true writer who is committed to giving herself to her readers for the good of all. A writer who sees her purpose as shedding light on the issues of the day, and allowing her readers to make their own, more informed decisions about them.

I highly recommend "Sing You Home." It's a novel that will make you cry, make you think outside the box...it will make you angry, and it will expand your sense of what could be done to resolve what seems unresolvable. It's a novel of our times for good or for bad. It sheds a light on what different people and groups of people are thinking and living, and for the most part, I think Jodi does that in a way that's unsurpassed by other writers today. She knows her readers, and she writes for them.

I don't think the Christian perspective received a full and complete audit; but, nor do I think the teenager in her novel was fully developed, nor the reality of dealing with different relationships. There is much that could be written about these that was left unsaid in "Sing You Home," so I'm wondering if it's a segway into a second book, or if she meant to leave things open ended.

As a gift, Jodi has written some song lyrics which her friend has set to music and sings. She has added this as a CD and it is attached to her book. It is an accompaniment to every chapter. I'm not one to listen to music as I read, so I have listened to it separately. I appreciate the gift and the inner work it took for Jodi Picoult to share with us.

If you haven't already gotten this book, I hope you'll go now and buy it. It's an important and excellent read. Your book groups will have a fantastic time with it, too!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Chemical Garden Trilogy: Wither" YA Fiction ~ For Adults, too

2011-04-04T20:23:00.001-04:00

"Wither"
Publisher: Simon & Schuster: Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0905-7
Pages: 368
Ages: 14 and up

Summary from Book Cover:

"In the not-too-distant future, because of genetic engineering, every human is a ticking time bomb--males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. To keep the population from dying out, girls are kidnapped and sold into polygamous marriages.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine is taken, she enters a world of wealth and privilege that both entices and terrifies her. She has everything she ever wanted--except freedom. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to escape Before It Is Too Late."

My Review:

With author Lauren DeStefano, there is hardly a moment's breather from the time you read the first to the last sentence of "Wither." This novel is fantastic. Her writing style is beautifully suited to a young adult audience, but I also found it mesmerizing as an adult, as well.

Ms DeStefano's storyline is well-conceived, and she deftly executes it without flaw, presenting a book that melts away so that time flys by. I simply could not tear myslef away from it, and I didn't want it to end when it did. This is a rarity for a reader who is used to mostly adult fiction.

Not since Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale," have I read such a believeable dystopian novel. Lauren DeStefano brings us into a futuristic society whose population has been chemically altered with horrifying results. "Wives" and servant-workers are blackmarketed by slavetraders called "Gatherers," and discarded undesirables are eliminated. Young people of 2nd and 3rd generations of chemical/genetic altering have become victims of scientific efforts to extend life. Many become orphans and fodder for the Gatherers who supply 1st generations with human replacements.

Our own youth obsessed society is not so distant from this mindset when we consider our society's interest in plastic surgery and prolonging life, not to mention the attempts to find ways to put off old age all together. It was, obviously, this youth-centeredness that caused the mishap that set the chemical disaster into motion in DeStafan's novel... a warning to all of us.

Ms DeStafano is so adept at creating her characters that they live. Told from the perspective of Rhine, who is her narrator and primary female character, we feel as if we are actually living in the moment. The "sister wives" are individuals, not shadow people, but girls we come to know and cherish. And, Rhine's love interests illicit complex, mixed feelings that mirror her personal struggles, as well. Genius writing causes one to long for more in the Chemical Garden Trilogy.

My recommendation is to buy this book immediately. It's a fantastic read for the weekend, or for a couple of days when you need a good novel. Your daughter will love it and thank you, too.
Personally, I'm anxious to find out when the second book in her series is coming out. Lauren DeStafano is an author who will capture a following. She has a bright future. Her trilogy is going to be a collection for your library.

And, by the way, isn't the cover design artistic and beautiful?
Your Bookish Dame/Deborah

"Being Polite to Hitler" ~ A Cautionary Tale

2011-04-04T10:50:00.003-04:00

"Being Polite to Hitler"

By: Robb Forman Dew

Publisher: Little, Brown & Co.

January 2011

ppgs: 296

Summary:
"After being a teacher and raising her family for most of her life, Agnes Scofield realizes she is truly weary of the routine her life has become. But how, at age fifty-four, can she establish an identity apart from what has so long defined her? Despite a newfound freedom, Agnes finds herself becoming even more entangled in the family web. In Being Polite to Hitler, one of our most cherished chroniclers of the intricacies of personal and family life in all its seasons brings us a sweeping portrayal of a much misunderstood American era."

My Review:

Absolutely stunning novel so full of meaning and history that you can bearly read each page without wanting to stop, think and take it in. This novel is absorbing to read, as well as being a voyeristic trek into one family's dynamics. Ms Dew's sense of plot and timing is seamless. You will be taken up and lifted through this book effortlessly.

Robb Forman Dew, a former National Book Award winner for her book "Dale Loves Sophie To Death," is an author whose ilk I've rarely had the pleasure of experiencing since college in classic American Literature. In fact, this book ought to be read as a requirement, it's that relavent today for understanding our social history in the post-WWII 1950's and early 1960's. Dew ranks with such authors as Joyce Carol Oates, Margaret Atwood, Virginia Woolf and Carson McCullers in her abilities and significance.

Centered around the Scofield family in "small town" Ohio, Ms Dew renders the microcomic view of an ordinary set of people with their reactions to such critical transitions as civil rights, the Rosenbergs, the atomic bomb threat, post-war commercialism, JFK's assassination and other issues of the mid-century.

Her characterization is flawless with such women as Agnes, the matriarch. Just her saying this below made her a wonder in my mind:

"But what on earth possessed these people for whom she had been the best parent she could manage to be, for whom she had tried to pretend wisdom, to mime adulthood--oh, Lord! Those children! Why weren't they safe by now? What were they doing? They rushed along through their lives, discarding the days like so many pieces of bad fish. It amazed her that they hadn't absorbed the idea--through all the time they spent growing up--of taking care, of guardedly harbouring...Well! Why were they so careless of their own contentment? Why weren't they willing to be happy all the time?"

Which mother of us hasn't felt that way??

Interestingly enough, her grandchildren are the children raised on the cusp of ribald commerciaism and over-indulgence; as they search the skies for Sputnik, play in bomb shelters and learn how to hide under desks at school.

Ms Dew is a gifted writer whose work will make a difference and will become an edict for contemporary Americans, and our society which is caught up in our every day distractions and fatalism. It's easy, however, to be seduced into a false complacency by the numerous sources of media today. Like those who "saw" the threats around them in those early decades, we often believe that "being polite to Hitler" in polite company, and throwing money at a cause will suffice.

I would highly recommend this novel to everyone--women and men. You can find a video introduction on Amazon.com, and bookgroup questions at:

http://www.hachettebookgroupcom/_assets/guides/ARG_9780316889506.pdf

Let me know what you think, please!

Your Bookish Dame

Giveaway! "Haunting Jasmine" WINNER Announced

2011-03-30T16:13:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Kristi of Books and Needlepoint http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/

who is the winner of my giveaway.

Please go by and visit Kristi's blog...she loves both of our favorite things!

"The Last Track" ~ New Suspense Author: Sam Hilliard!

2011-03-30T16:10:00.000-04:00

About the Author: Sam lives outside of NYC with his girlfriend and an army of four cats--one feline under the legal limit. Working at an all-girls boarding school, he knows world-class drama firsthand. It's also the reason he studies Krav Maga and Tai Chi.

Book Summary from Cover:
Mike Brody--the man you want, when the one you love is missing.

More than just a master tracker, Mike is a former Special Forces operative, smoke jumper, and now extreme adventure tour guide who can tap into the memory and emotional state of those he pursues.

In The Last Track, Mike is recruited to find an asthmatic boy lost in the dense woods surrounding a dude ranch in Montana. An unwitting murder witness, the boy burrows ever deeper into the rugged terrain, fearful of being found by the killer.

While Mike tracks the boy, his ex-wife, a journalist, uses her contacts to unravel the truth behind the murder. Her discoveries threaten to snare them all in a treacherous conspiracy...

My Review:

Sam Hilliard needs to quit his day job and write full time. He's a born writer of the first caliber. "Get out of prep school," as my preppie, grown children say, Sam, and go for your true profession. You have what it takes.

In "The Last Track," Mr. Hilliard introduces us to a cast of unforgettable characters. If he isn't writing a series of books about his main character, Mike Brody, the infamous tracker in question, I'm liable to send out a posse to track him!

With all the panache of a seasoned, gripping suspense writer, new author Sam Hilliard scores a direct hit with this book. Character development and His creation of an environment for them is at it's height. I actually saw myself there.

His tracker, Mike Brody, is a complex, infinitely intriguing man displaying a keen ability to track the lost in this wilderness situation. He also is an apparent student of how to handle people, including those in positions of authority. His military background lends itself to his tracker abilities.

Using a sort of sixth sense that guides him, comes from an unknown source, and that he keeps close to the vest, Mike Brody is a quietly capable, and virtually unknown man. Personally, I loved this twist on an otherwise familiar protagonist. One not necessarily psychic, but just the right amount of odd. We never quite get a bead on this ability and I'm thinking that leads to another book.

Much could be said about the insights we gain into advanced computer espionage, wilderness survival and law enforcement cooperation, but these things play in accompaniment to the human story of the lost boy and Mike's connection to his family. His spicey ex-wife is an asset to Mike and the story overall. This balance of story lines renders a wealth of knowledge that keeps the entire piece flowing. "The Last Track" is a page-turner.

Much can be said about Mr. Hilliard's themes of self discovery, coming of age, awareness of womens' issues, and loyalty in this book. It is a mark of excellence that he manages to get so much value into his book without being "preachy" and spoiling it. What an accomplishment, particularly for a first time writer.

If I were to give a black-eyed critique of the book, I would say this one thing: it starts off too slowly to capture the average reader. Having said that, I can only encourage readers to persevere. Believe me when I say that this book is worth the effort. I would simply encourage Sam to start his novel off with a way to grab his readers in the first paragraphs next time.

Given Sam's astuteness and his obvious writing skills, we can only believe there are more Mike Brody tracker books in the future. He's left too many unanswered mysteries for us. We are left begging for more explanations on a couple of major things! This is one of the great things about this book. I, for one, love a novel that sets me up for the coming sequel if it's done well.

Recommended for all lovers of mystery and suspense novels. For all who love Jeffrey Deavers, James Patterson, Michael Connelly and Patricia Cornwell. Yes, Sam Hilliard is that good.

Go to my sidebar to order this book from Amazon.com...

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Riding on Empty" ~ Faith in God and Motorcycle Therapy Healing!

2011-03-23T21:06:00.004-04:00

Book:   "Riding on Empty"
Author: Craig Stephan
Copyright:   2010
Pages: 145
Summary:      "What happens when a loved one dies--and you suddenly find yourself riding on empty?

Riding on Empty is the chronicle of an inspiring true story of two indomitable spirits: a mother who inspires her precious son to awaken to life and triumph over dyslexia and seemingly insurmountable odds to discover his authentic path and find the strength to heal from watching her tragic struggle with cancer.

Join Craig Stephan on this exhilarating tour of the Grand Canyon and beyond, as he and his wife Beth traverse the southwestern U.S. on his 1995 Electra Glide Harley Classic, looping through Sedona in search of inner peace, where he encounters a new perspective on life."

My review:

"Riding on Empty" was a risk book for me. I have experienced the loss of a loved one by cancer, my husband; and, more recently the death of my best friend. Craig Stephan's book about dealing with the death of his mother, therefore, made me take a second look, but I certainly didn't see how on earth I could relate to a biker guy!! I was so wrong. Good thing in my older years I'm determined not to let my superficial ideas and prejudices hold me back from learning something new to evaluate the world around me. Craig Stephan has a story to tell~~and one that will encourage and enlighten others.

Mr. Stephan is a good writer whose work distinctly comes from his heart and spirit. Throughout the book, his words continually reach to communicate with the reader. He readily shares the significance of his pain in the process; and, then the actuality of losing his mother to cancer, as well as the aftermath of grief. I heard recently that "grief is a ride you have to take, you can't get off of it until it's over." That is so true, and Craig Stephan gives us the ride of our lives when he shares his path with us.

How does it help him and us?  It helps because it's a testimony that we will all pass this way in our lives and we can survive it with God's help, and the help of those He puts in our lives to anchor and support us. It helped Craig because he was surrounded by a constant of love that never left him, a foundation of faith and love from his mother that he knew lasted past death, and would be with and inside him for all eternity. It helps because Craig was given the gift and the sense of urgency to tell us his story in such a way, a simple way, that could impact the lives of those who are walking through the gates of grief. His way works.

I learned so much about motorcycling! It was unexpected. I absolutely loved every second of it! There is so much symbolism about life in the 'cycle and the trip Craig and his wife took...the 'cycle that took them. It was just magical. We gain much from just that reading experience.

And, Craig shares very profound descriptions like this:

"My heart was road rash, burning like skin of a biker who had just hit unforgiving pavement at high speed and slid for hundreds of feet. I sipped my drink and tried to swallow. I visualized road rash throughout my gut. This is death by broken heart, I concluded. This must be how it starts."

There are many examples of his descriptions that make you stop reading in your tracks. One can actually feel the harshness of that pain, right?

In "Riding on Empty" this fine author is looking for an end to his grief. He wants understanding and a resolution about the loss of his mother. He realizes the needs a spiritual awakening. He finds all of these things, and he blazes a trail for those who may want to listen to him and to find the same peace.

If I may, I would have one comment that wasn't explored too much by the author. That would be the thing that is obvious to the reader and not so much expressed or perhaps "seen" by the author: that is that much of his insecurities and needs were transferred to his wife to fill in where his mother had left a gap. More and more during the trip he relies upon Beth to "read the map," to move the right way with him to keep the bike on the road safely, to get them entre' into the hotels, and to make decisions for their well-being. This is mothering in its rawest form! There are more important lifestyle examples. So, I think Beth is responsible for much of his healing, as well.

I recommend the book particularly, of course, for those who are experiencing grief and/or the death of a loved one, for Hospices everywhere, for those who know their lives are "missing something," but they don't know what, and for those seeking a spiritual awakening.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Made in America, Sold in the Nam" Book Written by Veterans & Loved Ones!

2011-03-23T04:26:00.001-04:00

"Made In America, Sold In the Nam" is a long-awaited book for me. As a child of the '60's, and a military brat at the same time, I lived through the residuals of the Viet Nam War and have always felt a sense of displacement, or perhaps an "unfinishedness" about it. This book was a salve to my emptiness. It was a "yes" to my heart's cry for my friends who had to go there when they were too young, too confused about it all, hadn't had time to grow up, didn't want to go to war; and, who sometimes came home and sometimes, didn't.

I remember several conversations with friends of that time about whether it was better to study hard and get the grades to go to college~potentially; or whether to just "goof off," and enjoy their senior year since they were probably going to be drafted anyway. There was a fatalism in those times. There was no peace of mind or heart with a draft in this Country.

I remember the song lyrics by either Dylan or Creedence, "I ain't no Senator's son, no," the idea that the only way out of the draft was big money and pull with the government...Senator's sons...big buisness's boys. Otherwise, look out, they were coming for you any day now. Imagine the anxiety and terrors those young boys must have felt...watching the Viet Nam War on the television all day and night and wondering if they would be there soon.

The writers in this beautiful, heartwrenching, chilling and uplifting book are simply angels of another time, 'though at times they seem to be demons expressing otherworldly horrors. They are artists and witnesses, survivors and grievers, husbands, children, friends, pilots and others who know what it's like to taste a little bit of Hell on Earth, and to share it with us. They are to be commended and honored for that simple act alone, as if their other actions and reactions didn't mean the world, as well!

It is writers such as these that remind us ever that War is futile in the end; that it is destructive to the minds, spirits, hearts and bodies of those we cherish.

It is writers such as these that remind us that lives are taken in the Game of War...forfeited as if they were like chess pieces on a board to politicians and distant world leaders. Lives taken, lives and families destroyed and/or left with wounds that take a lifetime to heal, if ever. Lives that are taken away and can never be replaced for a political principle...to save face for a government...not necessarily because it's for the good of the people of the United States of America or the invaded country.

Not necessarily because the rhetoric is true, but because the polls need stabilizing. Young men, fathers, brothers, sons, children, priests, preachers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, chefs, construction workers, mechanics, and on and on....those who aren't here today to actually help our own Country and economy when we need them!

For that alone, I beg you to read this precious book. And, to remember and think about the times we live in now.

Deb/TheBookishDame

"Giants in the Lands" ~ Biblical Words Are True ~ HOAX

2011-03-17T12:19:00.001-04:00

So sorry to have found out this was all a HOAX perpetrated by a photo contest earlier in the 2000's. Wouldn't it have been great if it weren't?! Thanks to Courtney (see comments) for exposing it!

I just wanted to share this with you. It's such a wonderful thing when archaeologists make finds like this one for those who need evidence of what the Bible tells us.

These astounding photos are from a recent archaeological discovery in Greece ; This totally unexpected find furnishes proof of the existence of "Nephilim". Nephilim is the word used to describe the giants spoken of in biblical times by Enoch as well as the giant David fought against (Goliath).

Note the incredible size of the skull...

Gen 6:4

"There were giants on earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bear children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

Num 13:33
"We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."

Just to show that the Bible is true with history lessons that are applicable both then and today, and it is not just a spiritual book written by men alone.

This is amazing. Not that the scriptures haven't already proven true, but now more evidence for our times.

I am so happy to be able to share these photos with you. What do you think of them?

Deborah/TheBookishDame

PS: Having a happy St. Patrick's Day??? :]

"After" by Amy Efaw ~ A book you'll remember!

2011-03-09T12:22:00.000-05:00

"After" is a book that will challenge your sense of morality. It's a book that will draw you in to her heart of a teenaged girl, Devon, who finds herself accused of giving birth to a baby by herself, and then getting rid of it in a dumpster.

With attention to characterization in the finest detail, Amy Efaw gives us memorable moments with Devon, her mother, her attorney, and others. I found myself really resenting the guards, policemen, and prosecutors on her case, having strong feelings about her fellow juvenile offenders, and worries about the judge.

Ms Efaw, if I may be so bold as to make a comparison which I hope is not offensive to her, is a writer much like Jodi Picoult. Not in every way, but in that she calls upon us to put aside our inital reactions to a moral situation, and to walk alongside the perpetrator whether we like it or not...only to consider and make an educated decision about her in the end.

While every case isn't packaged and "right or wrong" we are left with ourselves and our own conclusions, but more enlightened, hopefully. That is one of the rewards of this beautiful book. The other is simply the wonderful writing, descriptions and the look into human frailty.

I highly recommend this book to everyone!

Deb/TheBookishDame

GIVEAWAY!! "Haunting Jasmine" by Anjali Banerjee ~ Closes April 1st

2011-03-08T15:21:00.001-05:00

"Haunting Jasmine" is a novel that reminds me of early Alice Hoffman. Created with attention to her characters, including the ones that haunt her main character, Jasmine, Ms Banerjee gives us a story that will capture your imagination and your sense of the "suspension of belief" adventure.

From the book summary:

"Divorcee Jasmine Mistry is intent on restarting her life when she gets the chance to do just that. A call from the past brings her home to Shelter Island, a green dot in the middle of Puget Sound, to run her beloved aunt's bookstore.....Auntie's Bookstore, nestled in a quaint Queen Anne Victorian and believed, not incidentally, to be haunted."

This author is witty, wise and an accomplished writer. From the first paragraph she'll hook you into her world and her quirky ways. She's a master storyteller who can make you hoop with laughter one moment, have you heartsick in another, and sitting in eerie curiousity the next. Having written a number of children's books and other novels, she is seasoned and this books shows it.

Naming and talking about classic authors and books, delighting us in descriptions of her surroundings, she is bright and wiley, spinning a tale that will have you sitting up to finish "Haunting Jasmine"...even if it's the middle of the night. Truly, what bibliophile wouldn't love tidbits like the following:

"Lucia pulls a pocket notebook from her purse, licks her thumb, and flips to the first page. 'Was Jane Austen a realist? Charlotte Bronte said her work was like a "carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden." Ralph Waldo Emerson said that her depiction of life was "pinched and narrow."'

I was in love with her ghostly sweetheart, Connor. He is the man every one of us would want to know. So touching and such a deeply rendered love story that it rakes at one's heart like nothing I've read lately. And, he's such a contrast to Jasmine's cheating, self-absorbed ex-husband!

It is an added bonus that Ms Banerjee shares some Bengali traditions, fashions and recipes with us. This is always a treat to see in literary fiction, and allows us a small window into the exotic world of other peoples. The author seasons her prose with these additions, making it so natural within the American setting that it may delight and inspire one to go to the nearest shop selling such treasures! A great addition while reading the book.

All in all, I highly recommend this beautifully written book. It's a novel not to be forgotten. I expect it will do very well once readers get their hands on it! Ms Banerjee is an author I would love to hear more from very soon.

GIVEAWAY !!! Enter before April 1st, 2011

I will be giving away a copy of "Haunting Jasmine" along with a package of some Bangles and treasures!

Here's how to Enter:

1 pt. Follow my blog

1 pt. Follow me by Networking

1 pt. Comment on the book

1 pt. Blog about this on your blog and provide link

1 pt. Tell why you would like this book

2 pts. Add up your own points and PLEASE LEAVE YOUR EMAIL!!!

That's all you need to do. Each point will be added for winning chances.

Good luck! This is a really fabulous book.

Deb/TheBookishDame

*Please check out my other blog:
http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/ for other reviews and a live video of Jodi Picoult

I miss my stitching friends!! Deb

Alice in Wonderland meets Ava in "Swamplandia"

2011-03-04T01:44:00.000-05:00

Like Alice in her Wonderland, Ava in Swampland has much to say about the goings-on in our world. Oh, what a riot of fun and fancy! And, yet, oh, what a dark and shadowy little novel at the same time.

This dark little story is of a very odd, quasi-native american, gator wrestlin' family who makes it their life work to create a side-of-the-road gator festing, museum and theme park tourist trap. At first it's difficult to know how truly invested Chief Bigtree, the patriarch of the little family is in their Swamplandia world, but it is obvious that his commitment to himself runs deep.

Included in the Swamplandia homestead and gator park are his two young daughters, an older teenaged son, and a wife who dies early of cancer. When the mother and primary "gater wrestler" of the theme park dies, their lives begin to unravel as the brutal realities of grief and loss of security overcome them. Soon, the Chief disappears and the children have to manage without him. Each and every one have a story to tell and a life-view that is both genius and pitiful.

I can't remember when I've had more bittersweetness reading a book. I can't remember when a book has set me back and made me want to think about what just happened in the chapter I'd just read. And, I can't remember the last time recently I've met characters I've so thoroughly enjoyed from so many perspectives!

Ava, the youngest of the daughters is a level-headed, precocious child who wants to take care of everyone, and yet, who struggles with her own escapism, fears and fantasies. The swamp, the spirits surrounding the family and their life options, combined with the horrors and charms of the outside world and the dying of the natural, sacred swamp grounds provides the reader with an otherworldliness as we follow the characters along this tale. Ava worked as a guide for me. She was the anchor I needed to sort through the illusions vrs the realities of her world. There was a "scary houses" carnival, nightmarish feel at times to the story. When the "Dark World" begins to encroach on "Swamplandia," it holds all the anxieties of the 21st century on us.

The core love and sense of family these people share becomes iconic and deeply moving. There's survival and humanity so touching and terrible, so earthy and real that you'll be offended if anyone should break the spell and interrupt your reading.

Karen Russell is an author with unique talents. She is a true creator. She has something real and true to say, and if one listens and can hear her, they will find a gold nugget in this book. Like "Alice in Wonderland," Ava in Swampland has much to say about the goings on in our world. There's much to say about our environment and how deadly it is to man and beast, flora and fauna, alike.

It's an extraordinary trip to "Swamplandia," but you'll love it! Highly recommended. This would be a wonderful addition to intelligent book groups!

Please leave a comment for me on this one!

Deb/TheBookishDame

PS: Have you read this other book by Karen Russell?

"Swamplandia" derives from a story written in this collection of Russell's. Btw, she's only 26 years old! Such genius in her own youth!

Jodi Picoult's "Sing You Home" Live Interview!!! March 1, 2011 Release

2011-03-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

Jodi Picoult releases her 17th novel and all we can do is wait in line to be the first ones to grab a copy! On March 7th, at her Opening Reception in New York City, Jodi will be answering questions about "Sing You Home," and I'll have the live video on this blog. So exciting for me to be a part of it. I was thrilled to get an actual invitation to the event, but travelling isn't possible for me, so I'm happy to use this method of communication. I love Jodi and Simon & Schuster!!!

If you link to http://www.simonandschuster.com/ you will see some pre-publication video by Ms Picoult with regard to "Sing You Home," and her personal connection to the story. One of her sons is gay and through him the family has been introduced to unique experiences. Jodi and her family are fiercely supportive of who this young man is.

After having read some of the book at this point, (I was given a pre-publication copy of it....so grateful!) I've found it in the best tradition of Jodi Picoult's writing. Just makes one want to stay up 24/7 reading. She's written this one from a perspective of her own heart, however, which gives it a certain depth of feeling that I believe we'll find unique. I have a suspicion this book will be one her fans will rank as her best to date.

Along with her novel, Ms Picoult has collaborated with her dear friend, Ellen Wilber, to create a companion soundtrack! How unique in the industry...or, as I quote another author friend of mine..."the brave new world of publishing" is upon us. This beautiful recording, which Ms Wilber performs and has written the music for, and for which Jodi has written lyrics, is an accompaniment for each of the chapters of "Sing You Home." I'm distracted by singing when I read, so I've opted to listen after I've read a chapter. It will be interesting to see how you feel about this, and how it's used by readers in general.

As a sneak preview, I would like to give you the publisher's synopsis of the novel:

"In the aftermath of a series of personal tragedies, Zoe throws herself into her career as a music therapist. When an unexpected friendship slowly blossoms into love, she plans for a new life, but to her shock and inevitable rage, some people--even those she loves and trusts most--don't want that to happen.

Sing You Home is about identity, love, marriage, and parenthood. It's about people wanting to do the right thing for the greater good, even as they work to fulfill their own personal desires and dreams. And it's about what happens when the outside world brutallly calls into question the very thing closest to our hearts: family."

I will be posting my full review of "Sing You Home" in a few days. I hope you'll come back on the evening of March 7th, at 7PM to watch the live video with me!

*On another note~ I've failed to keep current on my blog reviews due to a nasty bout with a pneumonia virus. I'm better and hoping to catch up this week! Thanks for checking in with me.

Please leave me your comments. I so appreciate hearing from you! And, please check in as a "follower," which is also so important for me. It's nice to know you're out there! Thank you for stopping by,

Your friend and reader,

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Nineteen Minutes" Jodi Picoult's Twist on Columbine

2011-02-03T15:19:00.000-05:00

Jodi Picoult hardly ever fails to write a readable and thought-provoking novel. This is certainly a novel of our times...recreating the Columbine killings from the perspective a couple of kids caught up in the catastrophic and momentary madness which could change their lives forever.

You can't help enjoying this book from many different angles. It's not a light-hearted novel, but it's one that will, as always, make you wonder "What would I do...?"

Ms Picoult has a new novel coming out soon. But, I want to direct you to Amazon.com, where you can find an inexpensive "short" of hers for about $2. Anything written by Jodi is bound to please...so I bought it to fill in the waiting time!

New review coming soon!

On a secondary note:

I'm starting a new review day on Fridays. The reviews will be up every 3rd Friday of the month. The review section will be:

"Books From the Past"

I've decided there are far too many great books that I bought and haven't read. And, there are far too many books in the library and on bookstore shelves that haven't been read.

So, I'm going to read one a month and give a review of the book for you. I hope you'll come and see me on the 3rd Friday of every month to read the reviews. And, I hope it stirs up some new interest in books we've missed that are fantastic reads!

Have a great weekend! I'll be visiting your blogs and befriending new ones....

Your Bookish Dame/Deborah

"Houses" ~ Nostalgic Mid-to-late 20th Century

2011-01-27T14:18:00.001-05:00

"Houses" is about the many beautiful, enduring and literally earth-shattering epidodes that women and men experience in life. It's how the locust-like numbers of "baby boomers"...in our gusto for living, for challenge and change, helped bring about impassioned awareness, and long standing, meaningful new ways of living in our generation...not just social unrest, mindless war, entitlements and greed. And, we continue to effect social, spiritual, political and cultural change even today.

Ms Parks processes the conflicts of being a woman during the turbulent years of the mid-to end of the 20th century. Specifically, we follow the life story of Lacey, a girl whose growing up years to current "golden years" will leave a lasting impression on readers of all ages.

Readers are taken on a nostalgic trip through childhood days of playing outside with neighborhood friends, the Kennedy and Martin Luther King days, civil and women's rights, the Viet Nam War, the bliss of first love, and the self-affirming conviction of being politically active for the first time. We come to know and love her family members, her friends both male and female and her loved ones.

We relive Lacey's agonies, [the agonies we, ourselves, may have endured, possibly still do!] to be a "good Mom" while minding the house and budget requirements, working for a pittance at a boring/stagnant job, and trying to take one or two classes at a time to finish a college degree, so that some day it might be possible to become what she hopes to be. All of this only to find herself alone and most of those she loved gone, by the time she finally "got there."
Ultimately, Lacey does find a satisfaction from things fought for and won, and they give some consolation keeping her in the game, though the questions and conflicts, the nature of being a nurturer and/or a concerned parent still linger even to our childrens' generation. Even today, we; men and women, question why we go to war and we cry for those who fight and die.

In chosing the title, "Houses," Ms Parks chooses a metaphor relating to the different houses either lived in, toured, loved or hated, by Lacey to define the stages of her life, and the expressions of her "self." This brilliant symbol leaves an indelible mark, causing us to examine ourselves in the same context.

I want to leave these quotes of so many brilliant ones in this novel:
"Maybe I'm naive, but I'm hopeful that our daughters and granddaughters will find it easier. The internet and telecommunicating now offer the promise, not just of a greener way of working, but of an avenue, for both men and women, to productive and fulfilling work that doesn't require abandoning the home, especially the children, whose needs don't always correspond to nine to five scheduling. We have the Family Leave Act now and the notion of daycare in the workplace seems less radical. The stay-at-home dad is not such a joke."

and this:

"This, chickadees, is (sic) the things about happiness. You must take it where you find it. Don't question or second guess or wish for minor modifications. Laugh, eat, joke. Bounce the baby on your knee. Don't look forward or back. Keep your eyes focused on the faces around you. One of them may be missing come next year. Come next year everything may be entirely different. Memory may have to darken your perfect day with its tincture of melancholy and the happiness will never seem so clear and real again...Should you find yourself happy, as happy as I was that Thanksgiving Day, don't even think. Just be....Eat all you want."

This book is for everyone of this mid-to-late 20th century generation and even those of us at the dawn of the 21st century. There's beauty and wisdom for you here.

If you think those battles of life and liberty are all over, please, think again.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Rescue" by Anita Shreve ~ Life Lessons Aren't Easy!

2011-01-16T00:28:00.000-05:00

In "Rescue," Ms Shreve offers up a cautionary tale, writing a moral story and a reminder to us that sometimes those who are our best equipped, and most professional "rescuers," are not always the ones capable of saving their own families in crisis.

Anita Shreve is the consummate storyteller. She never fails to provide the well-written, well-constructed, relavent novel to which her thousands of readers can relate. Her books are timeless. They are filled with grains of truth that surely 90% of her readers will understand on a profoundly personal level. I found this book no exception, although it was lighter than some of her previous books.

Characterization is strong and believable throughout, with people we love to champion, as well as those who will challenge our sense of right and wrong, and fairness. The characters are so well developed that the line between fantasy and reality come close to fading.

Ms Shreve's book extolls the benefits and warns of the consequences of rash decisions made in youth. It's this flipside of the coin that contributes to the story and the meanings of "rescue." These questions of consequence, family problems and moral obligations should make this book hit home for nearly everyone.

I highly recommend "Rescue," not only to fans of Anita Shreve, but also to those who want a contemporary novel with timeless, thought-provoking qualities...and, of course, beautiful writing.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"She's My Dad" ~ A Transexual Professor's Story

2011-01-13T11:13:00.002-05:00

Astonishing clever book~~entertaining, interesting, shocking and an easy read. It's no wonder "She's My Dad" was chosen as a "Finalist - Next Generation Indie Book Awards."

Iolanthe Woulff gives a shadowy window into the little-known world of a transsexual in the most liberal of environments, a college created by a gay man for "alternate lifestyle" learners and educators.

With honesty and no-uncertain-terms storytelling, Ms Woulff shares what appears to be her personal experiences with both the homosexual lifestyle and the challenges of life as a transsexual.

While her writing is sound and intelligent with characters believable for the most part, I found the main character, transsexual professor, Nickie Farrell, somewhat flat and lacking. We do get her reactions and relationships to the college people around her, but Nickie's personal background...the hows and whys of how she made the choice for her transformation and the challenges of that journey, are glaringly absent. I was left wanting more. Her swift dismissal of emotional "hits" and her oddly superficial reactions of running away for a few days and having brief talks with her friend leave Nickie rather an empty shell.

"She's My Dad" contains strong language and imagery that seems geared toward those who are familiar with a darker side of life, or have experienced it personally. There is much having to do with the downside of homosexuality and violence surrounding it. However, here is where Ms Woulff's strongest and most realistic writing emerges! And, in my humble opinion, I think she has the makings of a fabulous Stephen Kingish author.

In conclusion, though I would not recommend this book for all readers, I have to applaud Ms Woulff for her courage in bringing us this book about the life of a transsexual. It is a timely and important story. It carries the hope of understanding, acceptance and love for all kinds of people no matter what they are inside and out.

The Bookish Dame/Deborah P.

"Great House," by Nicole Krauss~ Extraordinary, but Illusive!

2011-01-05T13:39:00.000-05:00

Frankly speaking, I found this book completely confusing in structure. The author does way too much skipping around in a disjointed manner..leaving the reader wondering who on earth she's talking about! It spoiled the reading experience for me; 'though I did find many redeeming points of interest and captivating characters midst the chaos.

Ms Krauss had some redeeming moments of beautiful writing and clarity throughout her work. Her original concept of a desk that was a "house" unto itself and that linked several people and families in their writing and angst, was a "great" one. It was just so scattered in presentation that it missed being a fantastic novel.

I kept trying to find another, personal connection between all of the characters, and thought I had, only to wonder about that at the end. It felt as if I should re-read the novel before I would really get that full connection...before I could claim complete understanding of the novel. But, I didn't want to reread it!

I'm very well-read, and I'm intelligent enough to know when a book doesn't quite hit the mark. Sadly, although the critics have touted "Great House" for its brilliance and esoteric singularity, I found it difficult and exasperating to read. I also became mind-boggled and frustrated by the author's switching from ordinary prose and descriptive writing to a sort of James Joyceian stream-of-consiousness at a couple of points. Again, it was irritating and disrupted the reader's train of thought.

All in all, I would find it difficult to recommend this book to my friends or anyone. I gave it 4-stars only because when she hits it right, as I've said, Ms Krauss writes beautifully and with great heart, giving life to her characters.

"BELLA" by Steve Piacente ~ 5 Star Quality Novel

2010-12-30T21:06:00.004-05:00

"A striking widow intent on proving the military lied about her husband's death lures a Washington journalist into the investigation. Working together, they discover the power of temptation, the futility of revenge, and the consequences of yielding to either." Book Cover Summary

Steve Piacente's first book, "Bella," is a smash hit. He is an author to be reckoned with...an author with his own "voice," and particular charm that I expect we'll soon be hearing much about in reading circles.

"Bella" is a book from a gifted writer, not just an author. It's fast-paced, funny, heart-wrenching, and a little scary.

Mr. Piacente, who is Deputy Communications Director at the U.S. General Services Administration, formerly enjoyed a 25-year career in print journalism. He earned a Masters in Fiction from John Hopkins University in 2000. I'd say he knows a bit about this story he's telling!

Written with such a snappy dialogue, quick quips, humor and irony that the pages spark with life. "Bella" is a read that entertains, surprises, and leaves us wanting more.

Piacente's tight, well-sculpted novel has the precision of a plastic surgeon's new face-lift...beautiful and practically flawless! So smooth it speeds along in a momentum of mystery and angst. So peppered with humor that I found myself refusing to stop reading for my mood's sake alone!

The main story honestly captures the essence and repercussions of a young athlete who was killed in Iraq by "friendly fire," and whose death was then "covered up" by the military.

Piacente's use of characterization, plot and description in telling his story are on the mark.

I love his news-jockey/journalist, Dan Patragno, who was sassy and serious, sharing the inner dialogue of a seasoned, wise and jaundice-eyed, investigative reporter. Danny is a loveable character with strengths and rough edges that make me long to know more about him and his journalistic exploits.

In fact, all of Piacente's characters are deftly created: The Bella in question, Isabel Moss, widow of the lost soldier, is an atypical heroine; an understated siren, injured, sexy, intelligent, and desirable as white oleander. A woman we can both learn to relate to and resent. (Sex scenes are tasteful and modern! Says she who detests crudely scribbled attempts otherwise made...)

Danny's buddies Gus and Clay are such odd-men-out, geeky; yet, genius players that we only want more of them! His primary school son, Robin, is a blooming little wisecracker to die for!!

You have to read "Bella," this year because it's a great book. Read it because you don't want to be left off this rising star's first book trail. And, read it because you won't want to miss his other Dan Patragno books which I'm begging him to write.

See Piacente's website: http://www.getbella.com for more specifics on Steve's interesting career and more on "Bella."

Watch a YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/getbella

**Reviews on Amazon (including mine!) and ability to purchase on my sidebar.

Hope all of you had a happy Christmas and that your New Year's Resolutions aren't keeping you up nights. I haven't made my list on that, yet. Too busy reading and enjoying time back home this past couple of days.

I want to thank the authors and publishers who have provided me with books for reviews this past years. They know who they are! I have enjoyed the reads, and hope my reviews have mattered.

I especially hope my choices of books to read and review over the past year have meant something to my dear friends and followers.

With warmest regards,

Your Bookish Dame/Deb

"The Highest Stakes" A Romping Race and Revenge!

2010-12-15T22:42:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, December 15, 2010"The Highest Stakes" A Ride You'll Hold On For!

"Set against the sights, sounds, and excitement of the brand new sport of thoroughbred racing, "The Highest Stakes" is a story of drama, love, and retribution in a world where pedigree is everything and fortunes can be won and lost in the blink of an eye.""From the first day she learned to ride, Charlotte Wallace lived for the freedom that comes from tearing across the heath on one of her uncle's prized stallions. But that freedom is shattered when her uncle makes her the pawn in his bet on a high stakes horse race."

These are the cover descriptions of Emery Lee's extraordinary book, "The Highest Stakes." I'm never one to explain the story of a book, since that's something easily found on the covers or with a nod to the summaries already written. My goal as a reviewer is to tell more about the author's abilities to convey that story, and to give a personal sense of how it translates to the reader.

"The Highest Stakes," is a book that I took a risk on reading. I'm not one who knows horses. Having been completely in the dark about them, I've never grown to appreciate their history or people's attachments to them. But, when I saw Emery Lee's book, it seemed like a good time to jump in and try to see this side of things. I started reading with a jaded mind, I didn't expect to finish the book.

Surprisingly enough, I was mesmorized! Ms. Lee writes about horses, races, breeding horses, and riders as if these things were at the heart of all life. It is captivating! I learned so much about the history of horse racing. The breeding of horses and how they develop a racing horse was so interesting written from Emery's hand, and the training of a race horse became alive and almost sensual. My heart raced when the races were described!

Emery Lee is a highly articulate,intelligent writer. She has an infinite grasp of the English language of the times in which her book takes place and of the entire setting of her story. Her characters are subtle and strong. They are absorbing in their trueness and honesty, and their love of horses. There is a love story at the heart of this novel; however, it is beautifully balanced with the story of the horses as they are entwined.

This is an intelligent book. It is a book to be taken seriously. A book that will teach and thrill, I recommend it especially to those who know and love horses and English stories of the 1700's.

Ms. Lee has a new book which is a sequel to this one coming out in 2011. Can't wait to get my hands on it!

I apologize for having left off the beautiful cover of Emery's book! Please go to Amazon.com to see it and, perhaps, to order the book for yourself. The cover is beautiful, but I'm having issues with downloading pictures at the moment!

Merry Christmas to friends and authors!

Love and hugs, too,

Deb/Your Bookish Dame

"Lake of Dreams" by Kim Edwards ~ Now on Goodreads and Amazon.com

2010-12-09T08:28:00.001-05:00

More research reveals a new book by Kim Edwards of "The Memorykeeper's Daughter!" Oh, my! My "Outdoing Yourself...Challenge 2011" is getting easier by the moment!! I need to hop back over and see who else is building their lists....

Can we hope to have as good a novel this time around? I hope so. It's always difficult to follow a blockbuster novel, particularly one made into a movie (!!), with a 2nd novel. I think it's our duty not to set our hopes too high. This can really hurt a novelist.

Earlier this year when "Ape House" came out the reviews were all a-swirl about whether the book was as good as "Water for Elephants." Many reviewers and friends of mine were comparing the two and "Ape..." was on the losing side. It's a shame because the subjects were totally different. "Ape House" is a stand-alone novel and is a very good one! Actually, I found it more interesting than "....Elephants," to tell the truth. But poor Sara Gruen had to suffer through that 2nd Novel Syndrome.

Here's the summary of "The Lake of Dreams" that Goodreads is showing:

"With revelations that prove as captivating as the deceptions at the heart of her bestselling phenomenon The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards now gives us the story of a woman's homecoming, a family secret, and the old house that holds the key to the true legacy of a family.
At a crossroads in her life, Lucy Jarrett returns home from Japan, only to find herself haunted by her father's unresolved death a decade ago. Old longings stirred up by Keegan Fall, a local glass artist who was once her passionate first love, lead her into the unexpected. Late one night, as she paces the hallways of her family's rambling lakeside house, she discovers, locked in a window seat, a collection of objects that first appear to be useless curiosities, but soon reveal a deeper and more complex family past.
As Lucy discovers and explores the traces of her lineage - from an heirloom tapestry and dusty political tracts to a web of allusions depicted in stained-glass windows throughout upstate New York - the family story she has always known is shattered. Lucy's quest for the truth reconfigures her family's history, links her to a unique slice of the suffragette movement, and yields dramatic insights that embolden her to live freely.
With surprises at every turn, brimming with vibrant detail, The Lake of Dreams is an arresting saga in which every element emerges as a carefully place piece of the puzzle that's sure to enthrall the millions of readers who loved The Memory Keeper's Daughter."

I'm holding out hope that this new work is as good as her first, that it's different, and that it holds its own. Certainly sounds like it!

Let me know what you're thinking...

Your Bookish Dame/Deb

YA Fiction 2011: "WARPED" by Maurissa Guibord ~ Pre-order Amazon.com

2010-12-09T07:16:00.001-05:00

Since one of my new resolutions for 2011 is to read more YA fiction, I'm claiming this book as one for my "Outdoing Yourself Reading Challenge."

Can you get over how gorgeous the cover is? Children these days are simply so beautiful, it's breathtaking. There's something about their awareness of themselves and the world around them that makes them different than the children of my timeframe and even of my childrens' times. (My children now being in their 30's) I say all of this because...just look at this girl on the cover. Those are knowing eyes!

The reference to weaving drew me in, as well. I'm a needlewoman and have been for nearly 50 years. I adore French tapestries. This one featured in part on the cover is from The Unicorn Tapestries...The Unicorn in Captivity, to be exact, which is now housed in NYC at The Cloisters. A whole discussion in and of itself.

Should you wish to know more about these stunning tapestries, here is a link to Fordham in NYC, which has information and pictures. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/albertini2.html Though this may be a slight side trip off the track of the book...it's one probably more worthwhile than anything else in the long run. Says she, the art historian. Sorry.... :]

In a nutshell, you see the whole concept of the book, then, given to you just on the cover of the book. "Warped" the term often used in tapestry work...the weave in making of the tapestry is a process of warp and woof. The warp is the first part that's laid in a loom.....the strings that are stretched the length of the loom. The "woof" which is the old expression or the "weft" which is newer...are the horizontal threadings that will be made through the warp. The cover further reads, "Tessa's life is about to unravel." So, the warp and the woof are not secure.

This is a book written by Maurissa Guibord who seems to be either French or of some part French heritage. She has to be vastly aware of these particular tapestries... interestingly enough. She's given us significant symbolic information about her book. Probably of where she even got her basic ideas for the book, altogether!

Without reading the summary that will be given below. We can pretty much surmise that poor Tessa will be stretched to the inth of her abilities to survive her coming of age experiences. I suspect that she will meet a young man (her unicorn) who is illusive to most people, except to herself...because a unicorn can only be tamed by a young virgin, after all. And, this young man must be pursued by those who want to hurt him or jail him for some reason. I'm guessing....

I can't wait to read this book which I understand will be out sometime in January, 2011, just in time for my Book List!

Here's the summary I took from Goodreads:

" Tessa doesn't believe in magic. Or Fate. But there's something weird about the dusty unicorn tapestry she discovers in a box of old books. She finds the creature woven within it compelling and frightening. After the tapestry comes into her possession, Tessa experiences dreams of the past and scenes from a brutal hunt that she herself participated in. When she accidentally pulls a thread from the tapestry, Tessa releases a terrible centuries old secret. She also meets William de Chaucy, an irresistible 16th-century nobleman. His fate is as inextricably tied to the tapestry as Tessa's own. Together, they must correct the wrongs of the past. But then the Fates step in, making a tangled mess of Tessa's life. Now everyone she loves will be destroyed unless Tessa does their bidding and defeats a cruel and crafty ancient enemy. "

Please look on my sidebar if you'd like to check Amazon.com to pre-order or just see more about this book. Even if you order for your Kindle, I'll get credit!! Thanks.... :]

Have fun! I can't wait to hear what you'll be reading. Please leave me a note.

Hope you're enjoying Christmas lights in your neighborhoods right about now!

Deb/YourBookishDame

"The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne

2010-12-08T02:27:00.001-05:00

One of the most beloved of classical American literature, "The Scarlet Letter," is a novel and also letter of sorts written to all of us; a warning and a love letter from the hand of Nathaniel Hawthorne, the brilliant and gifted writer from New England who lived and worked not far away from the streets and times of which he sets his novel.

Hawthorne lived in the Sudbury area of Massachusetts, not more than a couple of hours inland from the Plymouth Colony. He was a contemporary of Walden and Alcott. A spiritual man, but not a "religious" one, Hawthorne also wrote short stories. One of his most famous short stories (which you can download free from Gutenberg Press) is called "Young Goodman Brown," another morality tale that will live long in your heart and mind.

"The Scarlet Letter," is Hawthorne's best known and beloved work. It takes place in a MA Colony in the Puritan times.

Hester Pryne, the misbehaving woman who is ruled to wear the scarlet letter "A" (in question) for adultress, is beautiful, strong-minded and more admirable than most of the Puritans who blame and shun her. She is an honest woman caught in the web of star-crossed-love-gone-adrift, because her lover and father of her bastard child is the colony preacher! Hester does all she can to protect him and he does all he can to withstand his guilt and to find peace of heart and spirit in a Puritan society shifted so far afield that no one can see the truth or the good for the "letter" of the Law.

"The Scarlet Letter" is a deeply moving love story, but it is also a story of fear and distortion. It's a story of what can, and probably did, happen in a world where reason is set aside and mass hysteria takes over...where common sense mixed with spiritual insight is dashed by strict adherence to the law without compassion.

Those who have never read this book have missed a part of the American experience. I hope if you are one of those people, you will correct that situation soon and for your better good!

I first read it in 1967, and have reread it many times since then with new insights and pleasures every time. I even have a granddaughter named Pearl, after Hester's little treasure and my grandmother! Pearl, the wild and free-spirited child who was honest and one with nature and God...the precious one.

This book has gone through so many re-issues and so many covers that I couldn't take up all the space showing them here. The last is an interesting one to me because we now find it in the latest "Manga Edition" which is written by Adam Sexton and Yali Lin. Even in 2010, more than 100 years after its original publication, this classic is being interpreted for America's young and old, and for the Nations, too. Amazing and wonderful!

Deb/BookishDame

PS: I have to add that as I was studying Women's Studies in College in the late 1980's, "The Scarlet Letter" was a book that came to my mind. Hester Pryne was a strong woman role model. She seemed to me to be the best in a feminist example. I think she must have affected young women as such when the book was first published.

"The Last Train from Paris" ~ A Love Story of WWII

2010-12-05T00:12:00.003-05:00

Saturday, December 4, 2010

"The Last Train from Paris"~Love, Art and Parisian Patriots in WWII

A novel about Paris, not just the beautiful "City of the Lights," but a city captured and terrorized in the grip of a hostile German army in WWII, this is a book I couldn't help dying to read. I love Paris above all European cities, and my heart just stops at the thought of anyone destroying a single piece of its architecture or fine arts.

So, I could hardly wait to tell you that this book will leave you breathless and pensive. From the very first paragraphs you will be taken in to the epic story of lovers and liars, artists and anti-heros...

Stacy Cohen paints with a gentle hand and delft stokes the story of an occupied Paris that is so confined and crippled that you feel the constraints of it as you read. We come to know and love favored contemporary artists Miro and the grumpy but irrepressible Matisse, who take under wing the talented but fledgling young artist, Jean Luc Beauchamp.

Jean Luc becomes the hero of this story as we follow his passions of art, true love for a beautiful Russian ballerina with a secret, and love of Paris...all elements of the human story and the battle of good vs. evil. Ms Cohen also provides us a German Oberst officer villian to heat up the struggles. He's interesting, darkly intriguing and easy to hate.

A novel that will set you adrift into another time, "The Last Train for Paris," will catch you up in a story that will rush over your heart and bring you to tears. It is a story that will create a righteous indignation about the savaging of the arts, and the art thefts of WWII. And, it is a novel that will remain with you should you visit Paris or when you think of its beauty and many treasures.

Hopefully, you will never find yourself taking the last train from Paris...but always going toward Paris. It is the most beautiful and mysterious of European cities. Just like cities all over the world in these times and in the past, it is worthy of our concerns and protection.

I'm grateful to Ms Cohen for reminding me of that. It took many brave hearts in the Resistance to liberate Paris and France from a hostile enemy. Theirs is a story that is beautifully rendered in "The Last Train from Paris."

Highly recommended and timely.

****
Since Ms Cohen is a most admirable woman in every respect, I wanted to add this very interesting information about her for you:

"Stacy Cohen, author, philanthropist, and life-style consultant continues to bring her passion for love and life to everything she does. With her first novel, she creates a distinct voice that combines her passions for art, history, and the undying power of love....
In the world of international philanthropy, she has been a tireless advocate of children, including her support of Camp Okizu, the largest camp in Northern California for children and their families affected by cancer. She has raised hundreds of thousands for children's hospitals and funded a special performance by the Russian National Orchestra in support of Russian orphans, bringing her love for children and her passion for the arts full circle."

Your Bookish Dame/Deb