"I Couldn't Love You More" by Jillian Medoff~Family Saga for Book Groups!

Being a step-mother has its pitfalls on a normal day, but being one when the chips are down is even more difficult. In "I Couldn't Love You More," Eliot Gordon, referred to as the motherly "good one" by her sisters, loves her "steps" like her own children, but she's often stonewalled as so many caring step-mothers are. In this close monologue of a book, we find out a good deal about mothering, how "Sophie" may have made her choice and why we take the roads in life we do. This is a passionate book that calls to the mother and the fallible in all of us. Read it and weep. I did. A book to share with your friends, mom, sisters and book group. This one will have you talking to yourself, so you'll need a friend to share it with. You may have to buy two copies at one time!!

The book is published by: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette and is written by Jillian Medoff. You may find it at Barnes & Noble and at Amazon
There are more than 400 pages to this book.
You may also want to visit the author's website here: http://jillianmedoff.com


Summary :

Which child would you save? A decision no parent can even fathom.

Eliot Gordon would do anything for her family. A 38-year-old working mother, she lives an ordinary but fulfilling life in suburban Atlanta with her partner, Grant Delaney, and their three daughters. The two older girls are actually Eliot's stepdaughters, a distinction she is reluctant to make as she valiantly attempts to maintain a safe, happy household . . .

Then Finn Montgomery, Eliot's long-lost first love, appears, triggering a shocking chain of events that culminates in a split-second decision that will haunt her beloved family forever. How Eliot survives-and what she loses in the process-is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved a child. With hilarious honesty, wrenching depth, and a knockout twist, I COULDN'T LOVE YOU MORE illuminates the unbreakable bonds of family and reveals the lengths we'll go to save each other, even as we can't save ourselves.

Please take a moment to view this book trailer ~

Who Is Jillian Medoff ?
Jillian Medoff's bitterly funny, shocking third novel, I Couldn't Love You More, will be available from Grand Central Publishing in 2012. She is the acclaimed author of Hunger Point and Good Girls Gone Bad, both of which received surprisingly great reviews (surprising to her). A huge seller in the US, Hunger Point was the basis for the original Lifetime movie starring Barbara Hershey and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men). Although Jillian is proud of Hunger Point, had anyone asked, she would not have selected such a bright pink (any pink, frankly) for the trade paperback edition. Her books have been translated into many different languages, including French, Spanish, Hebrew, Turkish, Hungarian, Japanese (abridged), Polish, and German (forthcoming).
The eldest daughter of a traveling salesman, Jillian moved 17 times by age 17, ultimately ending up in Atlanta, where her new novel is set. She has a BA from Barnard and an MFA from NYU, and is grateful for having studied with such luminary writers as Mona Simpson, Jonathan Dee, Robert Coover, and Alice Walker. She also attended Master Classes with Toni Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, and Grace Paley. Although these authors continue to influence her work in powerful and diverse ways, she suspects few of them, if any, remember her. A former fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Blue Mountain Center, VCCA and Fundacion Valparaiso in Spain, Jillian taught at NYU and the University of Georgia, but for only, like, five minutes. She currently lives in New York with her family, and has no plans to move anytime soon.

The Dame's Review :

I have been reading " I Couldn't Love You More" for over a week. This is very unusual for me. I just had to savor every word of it. I had to take time to take it all in. Like a delicious Godiva truffle, I wanted to take my time to chew over what Jillian Medoff was "saying." This is an extraordinary piece of literature. It's one that warrants such time-taking. It's a book I wanted to cherish and reread, personally. It may be one of those "nightstand" books because I'd like to keep opening it to passages to think on again and again. This may give you some idea of the quality of Ms Medoff's writing.

I'm not surprised she worked under and studied with some of the finest authors of our times...

it shows up in her work.

I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't do some influencing herself.

The book also meant a great deal to me as a mother and step-mother. Her ability to translate this very delicate balance of love and responsibility,

of wanting to be loved and wanting to do what's right is just masterful.

Her telling of that risk of giving it all in mothering for what may be receiving little or no return in the long run is what each of us mothers understands...but it's more so for step-moms.

The risks in this book are just staggering. And they kept me nailed to the novel mind and spirit.

At last, I thought, someone gets it down on paper.

I write notes about books as I read them, and I read without reading any reviews or summaries of my books if I can help it. In this case, I kept things to a minimum. So one of my notes to myself was about Sophie's choice. Yes, there is that happenstance in this book and it's as horrifying here and as smashing of lives as you can imagine. The dysfunction of families, and the particular dynamics of three significantly different sisters (all playing their Shakespearean roles) is hilarious enough to break the underlying tensions. But, these are not the only things that captured me about this novel.

Primarily, and in addition to what I've already said about the mothering, I was captivated by its quality of voice. That's a rare thing to me. To so clearly hear the author's voice was stunning. It was hypnotic. It felt as if I were sitting on the sofa of my very best friend and she was telling me her life story. I felt I was hearing her secrets; her intimate thoughts and feelings that she kept inside but was now sharing with me.

This book begins in a sort of monologue. At least, to me there was little dialog.

This sort of thing is ordinarily not appealing to me. But, as I said, it was simply golden in Jillian Medoff's hands. To this day I'm in awe of that.

As I write this, I wonder if my readers will even comprehend how something can be told without an emphasis on dialog and be so powerful and absorbing to the reader!

It would be redundant to tell you what "I Couldn't Love You More" is "about," so I won't do that. Only, I will say it is such a beautifully created story of love and sacrifice and redemption. I thought Jillian Medoff's quote of a Willa Cather saying was significant in the beginning of her book:

" There are only one or two human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before."

This is one of those tellings of one of those lives and times. It may be we've all experienced much of what Ms Medoff describes in her story. It may be this that makes it so relavant and so poinant. And, it's a profound and wonderful telling.

I hope you get your own copy to read and share. You can never have mine...

5 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Last Romanov" by Dora Levy Mossanen~A Fabulous Historical Fiction!

So very gorgeously written, so descriptive and rich in history, this book is unbelievably special. I was sunk from the beginning...and I had so much to do this Mother's Day weekend! Sumptuous writing, so gaudy with lush descriptions of Romanovs, their homes and sycophants that my head was swimming

as if I'd drunk too much Massandra wine from one of the Tsar's seaside estates.

I was spun back in time to the Palaces with the little witch Darya Spiridova, nanny/aunt to the precious Tsarevich before he and his family were killed.

Or, was he killed with his family? That's the mystery of "The Last Romanov," that and what true place did Darya play in the unfolding horror and redemption of the past.

Floating back and forth in time over a span of 80-some years, we are tossed through a magnificent

time of war and peace. Dora Levy Mossanen is a tour guide like none other as she finely details all manner of things,

lending an authenticity to her story that brings chills of delight to a reader of historical fiction.

She is quite painterly in her art of writing.

Historical details are impeccable and gave the reading another pleasurable dimension.

I was unaware, for instance, but loved finding out, that Empress Alexandra's favorite fragrance was

Rose Blanche.

This book ended for me with a sigh. I had such reluctance to let it go.

I know all of you who love historical fiction will just die for it.

5 luscious stars on a diamond encrusted tray, and a pinch of Ambergris for fragrance!

Particulars of the Book:

Published by ~ Sourcebooks

Pages ~ About 354

Genre ~ Historical Fiction

Author website: http://doralevymossanen.com

Author's blog: http://doralevymossanen.com/posts/

OVERVIEW OF BOOK :

IN A TIME OF RASPUTIN’S MAGIC AND ROMANOV MYSTERY,
A YOUNG GIRL FINDS HERSELF AT THE HEART OF THE ROYAL FAMILY.

She was an orphan, ushered into the royal palace on

the prayers of her majesty. Yet, decades later, her time

spent in the embrace of the Romanovs haunts her still. Is she

responsible for those murderous events that changed everything?

If only she can find the heir, maybe she can put together the

broken pieces of her own past—maybe she can hold on to

the love she found. Bursting to life with the rich and glorious

marvels of Imperial Russia, The Last Romanov is a magical tale

of second chances and royal blood.

A Little Something About This Amazing Author :

Dora Levy Mossanen was born in Israel as the country was gaining its independence and moved to Iran with her family when she was nine years old. After living in Israel, where female soldiers wore shorts and carried Uzis, she had a difficult time adjusting to Iranian culture, which required women to conceal themselves under chadors. The first days of her arrival coincided with the 1953 coup of Dr. Mossadegh when the Shah fled to Italy. Streets brimmed with demonstrators, supporting Dr. Mossadegh and dragging down statues of Mohammad Reza Shah. And the very next day, portraits of the Shah were displayed again and blaring microphones announced his return. These were her first experiences in a country of contradictions, a culture rich in legend, mythology, folklore, and superstition.

Her family’s roots go back 2,500 years in Persia, where her first inspiration and invaluable source of history was her grandfather, Doctor Habib Levy, a renowned historian. Dr. Levy introduced Dora to life in Mahaleh, the Jewish ghetto, to the horrors of anti-Semitism, and to the challenges of being Jewish in a Moslem country. The Islamic Revolution of 1979, the fall of the Shah, and arrival of the Ayatollah Khomeini forced Mossanen and her family to leave Iran. They settled in Los Angeles, California and became part of what is now the largest Iranian community in the United States.

Despite being married, raising two daughters, and facing great opposition, Ms. Mossanen went back to school, causing another mini revolution—this one in her own home. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of California Los Angeles and a master’s degree in creative writing from the University of Southern California.

Dora is the bestselling author of the widely acclaimed novels Harem and Courtesan, which have been translated into numerous languages, and is the recipient of the prestigious San Diego Editor’s Choice Award. She blogs for Huffington Post, reviews fiction for the Jewish Journal, and has been featured in various publications.

I hope you'll take time to visit Ms Mossanen's website and blog. Fascinating! You'll love her book...promise.

Thanks for stopping by.

Deborah/TheBookishDame

A Plethora of Mother's Day Gifts! Deborah Batterman & Matt Hammitt

Summary: In the same manner as touching picture books like bestsellers Let Me Hold You Longer and Love You Forever, I Couldn't Love You More tells a sweet, loving, yet powerful message: I couldn’t love you more, but there is someone who does. Through the unique relationship of adorable animals, the book shares that Christ is always with you and he loves you more than you can imagine. This engaging picture book combines lovable and irresistible images with the lyrics from the song (co-written by Jason Ingram and Matt Hammitt). Matt is lead vocalist for Sanctus Real, a Grammy-nominated Christian rock band. The song is on Hammitt’s latest album, Every Fallen Tear. When Matt and his wife, Sarah, were halfway through her pregnancy, they discovered their son would be born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), a rare congenital defect. Matt and Sarah’s son, Bowen, was born on 9/9/10 and received a huge following through the Hammitt’s blog (bowensheart.com), K-LOVE, and ABC News. A portion of the proceeds from the book goes to the foundation the Hammitts’ have started to help parents with children who have this heart condition.

Particlars of the book:

Publisher~Tyndale House Publishers

Pages~28

Genre~ Children's Fiction/Christian/Inspirational

About the Author :

Matt Hammitt is the lead singer and a founding member of the band Sanctus Real. Over the past decade, the Grammy nominated, Dove Award–winning group has released five albums and has topped the Christian radio charts with fourteen No. 1 and Top 5 radio hits.

In 2010, Matt and his wife, Sarah, found out they were expecting their third child. Already the parents of two young daughters, Emmerson and Claire, they were looking forward to an ultrasound that would reveal whether they were having a boy or a girl. "We found out it was a boy, and we were all celebrating," Matt recalls. "But only a few minutes later the doctor came in and told us that things weren't right, that half of the baby's heart wasn't developed. At that time, they didn't think he would survive."

Diagnosed with Hypoplastic left heart syndrome, little Bowen, whose name means "small, victorious one," defied the odds and survived. But it hasn't been an easy road for Matt and his family. Following Bowen's birth, Matt and Sarah watched their newborn son endure two open-heart surgeries, and they spent more than three months by his bedside at Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Matt and Sarah have shared the pain, as well as the joy, of their journey with others through their blog, Bowensheart.com, which has received more than one million hits to date. Sarah says, "God clearly has His hand in all of this. Our family has been called to walk through this, and we will do our best, even though it's going to be really rough at times."

"Everything I've watched happen in the hospital—all the pain I've felt—is deepening my faith, strengthening my marriage, and molding my character," Matt says. "Out of what appeared to be a well of emptiness has flowed a fountain of purpose." Matt's album Every Falling Tear, released in 2011, was born out of the heart of a father wrestling with his pain but buoyed by his faith and his love for his family. I Couldn't Love You More is one of the songs on the album. It expresses a parent's desire to share Christ's unconditional love with his child. A portion of the proceeds from both Matt's album and this book will be given to support the Whole Hearts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded by the Hammitts that is dedicated to helping families with children suffering from congenital heart defects. Matt says, "We've met so many families like us whose children are suffering, and they are looking for hope. It has become our mission to help them find it."

Find out more about Sanctus Real at: http://sanctusreal.com and their blog at: http://www.sanctusreal.com/sanctus-real/c/feed-blog

The Dame's Nutshell Review:

This is a darling book with the most beautiful of illustrations. I wish I had a copy for every single one of my 7 little grands to keep on their bedside tables. The message of Jesus's love and His never leaving them whether day or night is such a comfort. I know my grands would all be happy to be reminded that someone else loves them much more even than their devoted parents and grandparents!

Matt Hammitt, and illstrator Polona Lovsin have worked together to bring a stunning little book to life with the collaboration of songwriter, producer and artist, Jason Ingram's input.

I have always loved the simple and profound messages of their books, but this one is a stand-out!

I highly recommend it, not just for children with disabilities and those who suffer with hospitalizations, but for all children in all situations.

It's a perfect book for anytime and anywhere.

5 sparkling stars...

************************************************************

Short Stories Choice of the Month

With poignancy and humor, Deborah Batterman reminds us in these brief, linked essays that every mother is a daughter, too. The insights she brings to simple acts – looking at old photographs, recalling the smells and tastes of her mother’s cooking, making her daughter’s bed or shopping with her – are as beautifully rendered as they are profound.

About the Author:

A native New Yorker, Deborah Batterman has worked over the years as a writer, editor, and teaching artist. A story from her debut collection, SHOES HAIR NAILS (Uccelli Press, 2006; digital edition, 2010), was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her stories have appeared in anthologies as well as various print and online journals, and she recently completed a novel.

Find Deborah on her blog at: http://deborahbatterman.com

Let The Dame Have Her Say :

Deborah Batterman is a woman who knows the intricacies of writing well. She is a writer who can take apart a piece of story like boning a fish, bit by tiny bit, and come out with a delicacy. I love her body of work. It's a delight to read, and I wonder when some major publisher is going to discover her and put her all over the book shelves in every major city across the country. For now, any of us can read her work by finding her on Barnes & Noble for a song. Lucky for us!

In "Because My Name Is Mother," Deborah has highlighted the dark and the light sides of motherhood. It's a retrospective story making of the push-pull we all probably feel about our own mothers; i.e., that sense of loving them, and at the same time feeling a sort of jealousy or resentment toward them. And, if not a resentment, an awe of the mystique of them on some level. The power of motherhood is addressed in Deborah's short stories, as is the personal weaknesses of women who are mothers. And all this is done with such brilliance and poignancy, we can't help being touched with memory and the madness, and the awareness of our own roles as mothers.

I'm a huge fan of Batterman's work. I have to stop by her blog fairly often just to get my dosage of her writing and wisdom. She's an amazing artist. She's also one of those who actually sees and interprets the world around her on a regular basis. That's a gift, which makes her a gifted writer.

I loved the second story in this collection, for instance, of her showing her grown daughter by example that it's good to enjoy the moment, to take time to distance oneself from busy-ness when having a moment's pleasure and "relaxation" in a manicure and pedicure salon...putting away cell phones, magazines, etc., to enjoy the moment. She writes of not telling her daughter, but showing by her own choices, and realizing that her daughter might at some time find the way by her example...or not. That's motherhood at it's most mature.

Let me encourage you to purchase this volume of short stories today or anytime. "Because My Name Is Mother" is a book you'll be reading and passing on to your mother and friends...

And purchase her book on Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/because-my-name-is-mother-deborah-batterman/1110356646?ean=2940014548731

5 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"Slide" by Jill Hathaway~ A Great New YA Thriller For the Summer!

Narcolepsy is the perfect cover for being a "slider," but is it the most socially acceptable when you're in high school and no longer a cheerleader? I don't think so... Vee has a hard time with her life in general; her mother recently died, her little sister has hit puberty with a vengeance and her father's a famously, oft-needed doctor. She has no friends except a

strangely different sort of guy who seems to understand her; but with whom she can't share her "sliding."

And, then there's a murder that she just happens to know about when everyone else thinks it's a suicide, because she accidently slid into the murder's body when it happened!

This suspenseful novel by Jill Hathaway is a young adult winner by any standards.

It has the quintessentially beautiful, pink haired misfit girl, the hunky jock, cheerleaders, goth-edged gorgeous guy, the dark stranger guy and the slightly attractive male teacher...along with the tragic teen aged angst of suicide and parents missing by death and choice.

  It's all a winning soup.

The plot is thick and good.

I loved this book for many reasons. It's well written, it's absorbing, and

it's a cliff hanger of the old school sort.

Jill Hathaway has my attention, and I'll be looking forward to more of her books.

4 stars from me!

This is a great YA fiction/thriller which I think adult readers would also enjoy.

Particulars of the Book:

Publisher: Balzer & Bray/Harper Collins

Pages: 187something

Genre: YA Fiction/Thriller

Author: Jill Hathaway

Author's website: http://jillhathaway.com

Author's blog: http://jillscribbles.blogspot.com/

Summary :
Vee Bell is certain of one irrefutable truth—her sister's friend Sophie didn't kill herself. She was murdered.

Vee knows this because she was there. Everyone believes Vee is narcoleptic, but she doesn't actually fall asleep during these episodes: When she passes out, she slides into somebody else's mind and experiences the world through that person's eyes. She's slid into her sister as she cheated on a math test, into a teacher sneaking a drink before class. She learned the worst about a supposed "friend" when she slid into her during a school dance. But nothing could have prepared Vee for what happens one October night when she slides into the mind of someone holding a bloody knife, standing over Sophie's slashed body.

Vee desperately wishes she could share her secret, but who would believe her? It sounds so crazy that she can't bring herself to tell her best friend, Rollins, let alone the police. Even if she could confide in Rollins, he has been acting distant lately, especially now that she's been spending more time with Zane.

Enmeshed in a terrifying web of secrets, lies, and danger and with no one to turn to, Vee must find a way to unmask the killer before he or she strikes again.

All About the Very Stylish Ms Hathaway!

Jill was born and raised in Iowa. As a child, she loved paper dolls, Archie comics, and writing. In her adolescent years, she wrote emo poetry and produced paper zines that she sold for $1 in local comic book and record stores.

Having earned her BA in English from the University of Northern Iowa and her MA in Literature from Iowa State University, she now teaches high school and community college courses in the Des Moines area. She lives with her husband and young daughter.

Jill spends her free time collecting cool gear for her blood elf paladin, watching Veronica Mars, and listening to angry grrl music.

SLIDE, her debut novel, will be released from Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins in 2012.

Here's a picture of Jill on tour!

You can buy Slide at: Barnes & Noble

or Amazon
or at your favorite local independent book seller!

March 23, 2012

Seventeen.com/Cosmogirl reviews SLIDE, suggesting it to fans of Pretty Little Liars. They say their "jaws literally dropped" at one of the twists.