A Few More Pages

Book Beginnings on Friday: January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you would like, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday and will be open for the entire week.

Thanks to Becky at Page Turners for starting this meme and to Rose City Reader for inspiring it!

I've got this book up for a giveaway right now (click here to enter!). Here are the first lines of The Temple Mount Code by Charles Brokaw:

"You've had quite a night, haven't you, Professor Lourds?"
Buckled into the passenger seat of the Bell helicopter, Thomas Lourds smiled. He was pleasantly tipsy and looking forward to his tent, and the cot within it even more.

The setting is what really draws my attention in this beginning. He's on a helicopter, he's drunk, and he's on his way to a tent where he will sleep in a cot. Definitely not your typical setting.

So how does your current read begin, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Giveaway: The Temple Mount Code by Charles Brokaw

2012-01-26T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today (courtesy of the publisher) I've got a hardcover copy of Charles Brokaw's The Temple Mount Code up for grabs. Here is the synopsis from the publisher's website:

An old friend summons dashing linguistics professor Thomas Lourds to Jerusalem to examine an ancient text. But Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also wants the same document. Khamenei and many others believe that the book contains a secret that will allow its owner to rule all of Islam and wage a Global Jihad the likes of which has never been seen before.

Arriving in Jerusalem, Lourds discovers that his friend has been murdered and his apartment ransacked. With the help of Miriam Abata, a beautiful Iranian-American Jewish graduate student, he races against the clock to seek the dangerous document: Lourds seeks to save civilization while his enemies hope to destroy it.

Continuing the New York Times bestselling series that includes The Atlantis Code and The Lucifer Code, The Temple Mount Code will appeal to readers interested in history and treasure hunting in the Holy Land and is perfect for fans of Dan Brown, Brad Meltzer, James Rollins, and Steve Berry.

I read the previous book in the series, The Lucifer Code, in 2010 (click here to read the review). The book really reminded me of Dan Brown, so if you like that kind of thriller, you'll probably like this as well.

To enter, just fill in the blanks on the Rafflecopter form below. It's open internationally, and please be sure to read the rules and conditions. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Trailer Tuesday: Hidden by Victoria Lustbader

2012-01-24T05:01:00.000-08:00

I just stumbled across this nice video on a random website and was inspired to put this book on my wishlist as a result.

Hidden by Victoria Lustbader
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: October 2007 (paperback)
Book Description (from The Book Depository):

A captivating debut novel, Hidden marvelously re-creates New York City in the 1920s, from the hustle and bustle of the Lower East Side to the hushed hallways of the homes of the rich and powerful. In graceful, eloquent prose, Victoria Lustbader presents a fierce, compelling story of loyalty, forbidden desire, and the end of innocence. The battlefield traumas of The Great War cement an improbable friendship between Jed Gates, scion of the wealthy Gates family, and David Warshinsky, first-generation American from New York's poverty-ridden lower East Side. David sacrifices his family and his Jewish heritage in pursuit of his untamable ambition, while, in eerie parallel, Jed sacrifices his private desires to assume the burdens of familial expectations. David's young sister Sarah suffers the torments of a sweatshop and hardens her heart to the brother she once adored. Jed's rebellious sister Lucy becomes a nurse in Margaret Sanger's revolutionary birth control clinic. Sarah finds a tender love in sensitive Reuben Winokur, an immigrant tailor destined to prosper in his new country, but Lucy falls hard for David, who belongs to another. Brilliantly evoking time, place, and person, Hidden draws readers deep into the past to illuminate the present. For nothing is more eternal than human feeling, and nothing more important to the human heart.

So, what do you think?
Have you seen any other good book trailers lately?

Review and Tour Stop: The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren

2012-01-21T01:59:00.000-08:00

The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren
A Deep Haven Novel
Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction
Pages: 384
Publication Date: January 2012
Publisher: Tyndale
Source: I was provided with an e-galley to participate in a Litfuse Blog Tour.
Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the publisher):

A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage. After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?

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Early last summer I read My Foolish Heart, a wonderful book from Susan May Warren's Deep Haven series that I really enjoyed. So when I saw there was another book coming out in the same series, I decided to jump on board with the blog tour organized by LitFuse. I was expecting the setting to be familiar, but was surprised that the Deep Haven of this book felt so different from the Deep Haven of the last book.

Part of the difference was in the setting. Deep Haven in winter is very different from the Deep Haven I got to know in My Foolish Heart. Plus Noelle and Eli basically live on the outskirts of town, so the story feels different in that sense. The other difference is that the couple at the center of the story, Noelle and Eli, face different circumstances. They are a married couple, with sons in their teens and twenties. Their marriage is falling apart and on the brink of divorce when Noelle loses her memory in a fall. She wakes up in the hospital thinking she is still in college, unable to remember her husband, children, or the life they had together. She has to get to know them all over again and try to reconcile herself with a life that she doesn't recognize and that her college-age self hadn't even anticipated.

There are fewer light-hearted moments in this story than in My Foolish Heart. There is a lot of pain here, and not just with a marriage on the rocks and the struggle of a family to cope and heal after Noelle's accident and resulting amnesia. Eli struggles with whether he should tell Noelle about the daughter they lost when she was killed at her job in a convenience store. Part of the reason their marriage was falling apart was because Noelle and Eli were devastated by their loss, and mourned for their daughter in different, incompatible ways. They didn't know how to comfort each other. There were also a lot of secrets going on in their marriage, as Eli developed what I would consider an emotional affair with Lee, one of Noelle's best friends, and Noelle had secrets of her own (which were difficult to work out with amnesia).

There is a good amount of suspense in this novel, with danger lurking on the edges of the story related to Noelle's accident. I wanted to know if she would regain her memory and what revelations would follow. I was also kept on pins and needles wondering what would happen between Eli and Lee, and whether they would do the right thing or not. There was also a nice side-story involving Noelle and Eli's oldest son, Kyle, and their daughter Kelsey's best friend Emma (Lee's daughter), as they get to know each other as adults and figure out what they want out of life (and love).

I really liked that the characters in this book were complicated and their relationships messy. Although I felt at times that there were too many coincidences lining up just right in the storyline, the characters and their relationships helped ground the story and made it feel more realistic. I felt frustrated with every one of the characters at different points in time, but at least it wasn't because they were too perfect--they definitely had human flaws and weaknesses. I found that I could identify with Noelle's struggle to recognize herself as she realized that the life she had led over the past 25 years was so different than what she had planned as a young adult. We kind of lose sight of those idealistic hopes and dreams for the future as we focus on present demands, worries, and decisions. It is true that my younger self would probably have a hard time recognizing the present me. It was quite thought-provoking to consider this question as I read.

So far it appears that the novels in the Deep Haven series don't really need to be read in order and stand alone quite admirably. Susan May Warren has impressed me again with the depth of her characters and the relevant issues raised within the pages of The Shadow of Your Smile. If you like Christian Fiction that makes you think and that you can sink your teeth into, I would definitely recommend it. I'm liking what I've read so far in the series, and I am looking forward to reading more.

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at her website, blog, on facebook, or on twitter.
Read an excerpt of this book.
Discussion guide
View the book trailer.
Read my review of My Foolish Heart.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)
Check out more stops on this LitFuse blog tour!

Book Beginnings on Friday: January 20, 2012

2012-01-19T23:29:00.000-08:00

This week I read First Date by Krista McGee. Here are the first lines:

'You're going to be on television, Addy,' Mr. Lawrence said, as if it were a good thing. As if all seventeen-year-old girls dreamed of being told that and Addy should jump up from her seat, squeal, and thank him for the opportunity.

Clearly Addy is not excited about the prospect of being on television. I can relate. I wouldn't want to deal with the pressure of being on television.

So how does your current read begin, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Review: The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons

2012-01-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

The House at Tyneford by Natasha Solomons
Genre: Historical fiction
Pages: 368
Publication Date: December 27, 2011
Publisher: Plume
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the publisher):

With the advent of World War II fast approaching in Europe, Elise Landau and her family realize that it is no longer safe for Jews in Austria. Elise’s father, Julian, and her mother Anna, a novelist and a singer respectively, urge her to advertise herself as a domestic servant in England and trade the loving, bourgeois lifestyle to which she was born for an interim life of servitude away from the Nazi threat. Traveling with only her clothes, a few smuggled keepsakes, and Julian’s secret unpublished manuscript hidden in an old viola, Elise embarks with great trepidation for her new life at the estate of Tyneford, owned by Christopher Rivers.

Between worrying about her still endangered parents and struggling to adjust to her new life, Elise learns very quickly how much she has left behind. But when Mr. Rivers’ fun–loving son, Kit, returns home, a romance erupts between him and Elise that challenges the aristocratic orthodoxy. Despite his devotion, Kit gets pulled into the war, in a test of their love and the fading of a bygone era.

The House at Tyneford is a story of the possibility of transcending social and class boundaries, as well as a novel about tradition, change, loss, and enduring love.

❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦

This was one of my favorite reads in 2011. The House at Tyneford is a novel full of suspense, mystery, love, and loss that quickly pulled me in and had me madly turning the pages until the end. From the first lines I was reminded of Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca because of the importance placed on a house in both stories, and because both stories are told by a narrator reminiscing about events in her past. Further, at a certain point the main character seems to be haunted by the ghosts of the house's past, but not in the same way that the main character of Rebecca was haunted. This isn't a re-hash of Rebecca, but a story that brought Rebecca to my mind.

Set during the years leading up to and during World War II, the story follows the experiences of Elise Landau, who relocates to England before the war breaks out to escape increasing violence and repression of Jews in Austria. She plans to shortly meet up with her family in the United States but things don't go as planned when her parents are unable to escape Austria as the war begins. So Elise finds herself in a situation where she must learn to be a domestic servant--quite a feat for a girl whose family was affluent enough to have their own domestic servants back home. As the war rages on, Elise struggles to keep up hope for her parents' safety and to find happiness in her new life.

The historical setting of this book was one of the main things that drew me to this book. It explores how Jewish families were affected in their attempts to escape Hitler's expanding influence in Europe. In Elise's case, she is separated from the rest of her family and forced to grow up quickly in learning to take care of herself and keep her employment. The novel also shows how the British homefront was affected and how soldiers' families were so deeply devastated when their sons and lovers didn't return home. The war had a profound effect on everything and everyone in the story--including the town, the houses, and the lives of the inhabitants.

This book was published as The Novel in the Viola in the UK, which works well with the story as Elise's father sent an unpublished novel with her to England inside of the family's viola. The novel has a prominent place in Elise's heart, even though she has no idea what it is about and is hesitant to break open the viola to find out. When she does finally get into the viola, the novel holds surprises she didn't expect.

I highly recommend this book. It was a bit predictable at times, but I still found it to be a moving, well-written, and introspective story about love and loss, sadness and hope, and second chances in life and love.

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at her website, blog, on twitter, and on facebook.
Read an excerpt from this book.
View the book trailer.
Read my favorite lines from The House at Tyneford.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)

Challenges: Historical Fiction

Trailer Tuesday: Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins

2012-01-17T04:01:00.000-08:00

I'm currently reading this, and I came across the trailer at the author's website the other day. It is really good--I think it brings out the suspense of the book really well:

Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Publication Date: March 1, 2012
Book Description (from the author's website):

Amaryllis, Mississippi is a scrappy little town of strong backbone and southern hospitality. A brick-paved Main Street, a park, and the legendary ghost in its ancient cemetery are all part of its heritage. Everybody knows everybody in Amaryllis, and gossip wafts on the breeze. Its denizens are friendly, its families tight. On the surface Amaryllis seems much like the flower for which it's named—bright and fragrant.

But the Amaryllis flower is poisonous.

In the past three years five unsolved murders have occurred within the town. All the victims were women. All were killed in similar fashion in their own homes. And just two nights ago—a sixth victim.

Clearly a killer lives and breathes among the good citizens of Amaryllis. And now three terrified women are sure they know who he is—someone close to them. None is aware of the others' suspicions. Independently, each woman must make the heartrending choice to bring the killer down.

But each suspects a different man.

So, what do you think?
Have you seen any other good book trailers lately?

Enter to win digital copies of Dan DeWitt's novels, Orpheus and Odinsons!

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

Title: Orpheus
Author: Dan DeWitt
Genre: Horror (Zombies)

Synopsis: Cameron Holt is fortunate enough to survive the initial outbreak that turns his New England island community into a hive of the undead. So is his son, Ethan. Now, the only thing keeping Holt going is the determination to rescue his son from the undead...or remove him permanently from their ranks. Unfortunately, zombies aren't the only thing getting in his way.

Reviews

Orpheus received two five-star reviews from The Masquerade Crew.

Also up for grabs in this giveaway are digital copies of Odinsons, another of Dan's novels. Click here to learn more about it.

An Interview With The Author—Dan DeWitt

What's your writing background?

Nothing too exciting. I have a Bachelor's degree in English, which means next to nothing when it comes to writing fiction. Still, I took a bunch of creative writing classes and really enjoyed them. Before that, I dabbled in short stories here and there, but wasn't ready to try and make a career out of it. I wrote one screenplay in 2001 that advanced to the second round at Austin (and I'm about ¼ of the way into its novelization). I've always been a voracious reader, and I got really serious after participating in NaNoWriMo in 2006. Since then, I've published a couple of short stories in e-zines and one non-fiction profile in a local magazine. But I'm really just a guy who loves to read fiction and tell a story from time to time.

To read more of this interview, click here.

Connect with the author:

Enter to Win!

Book Beginnings on Friday: January 13, 2012

2012-01-13T08:48:00.000-08:00

I just started reading Gone to Ground by Brandilyn Collins. Here are the first few lines:

Cherrie Mae
You can tell an awful lot bout people from cleanin their houses. Like the time I drug a hot pink thong out from under ol Ed McAllister's bed--a lacy little piece a cloth that wouldn't a fit round his wife's hiney in her best days.

I don't generally like it when a character's words are misspelled to convey an accent or dialect. But I'm trying really hard to look past that here because Cherrie Mae is so spunky and these first lines made me giggle. I haven't quite finished the first chapter, but I believe this story is told from alternating character viewpoints. It is keeping my interest so far.

So how does your current read begin, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Book Beginnings on Friday: January 6, 2012

2012-01-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! One of my New Year's Resolutions is to read more classics. So I just started reading Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Here is the beginning:

1801.--I have just returned from a visit to my landlord--the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's heaven: and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation between us.

This is my first time reading this classic. I haven't really gone much further than the first page yet, but this beginning certainly sets the scene, doesn't it? You definitely get a feeling of isolation out of this beginning.

So how does your current read begin, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Book Beginnings on Friday: December 30, 2011

2011-12-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

This week I'm reading eye of the god by Ariel Allison on my Nook. Here are the first lines from the Prologue:

Golconda, India, 1653

Jean-Baptiste Tavernier winced as the soldier chopped off the man's hand. The thief shrieked and dropped to the ground, clutching the bloodied stump to his chest.

Quite an eventful (and violent) start to a book! This is a novel about an attempted heist of the Hope Diamond, set in the modern-day. I'm really enjoying it so far! There's a nice mix of historical background on the diamond mixed in with the contemporary storyline. This history geek approves!

What is/are the first line(s) of your current read, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Review: A Year With God by R.P. Nettelhorst

2011-12-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

A Year With God: Daily Readings and Reflections on God's Own Words by R.P. Nettelhorst
Genre: Christian Devotional
Pages: 400
Publication Date: November 2010
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Source: I received a free review copy through the BookSneeze book review bloggers program.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the back cover):

Are there any words more powerful than God's? Through his words, the world came into creation and all life into being. God spoke to his first people, Adam and Eve, and he spoke to Noah and Abraham, to the kings of Judah and Israel, and to the prophets.

And he speaks to you today.

God's words are real, and they are full of his love, wisdom, and direction. A Year With God is a 365-day revelation of God's divine character through his actual words, along with reflections and insights to increase your understanding. You'll discover the context of God's words spoken in the Old Testament--and what they mean for you and your life.

Arranged by topic, A Year With God highlights God's words to his people. In reading what God actually said, you can know what really matters to him and to you. It's a pure, simple, and lasting way to connect your heart with God's and become more like him every day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The beginning of a new year gives us a chance to set new goals for the coming year, and one of my goals has been to spend more time reading and thinking about God's Word each day. I have a variety of devotionals on my bookshelves, but they often seem somewhat shallow or they focus on very small pieces of scripture so that you don't get a feeling for the context of the passage.

This devotional is different, however, from devotionals I've tried to read through before. A Year With God has 365 page-long devotionals dedicated to reading God's Word and helping the reader to apply it to their lives. The first thing that stood out to me about this devotional was that the scripture readings are prominent--taking up a third to a half of the page, with the rest of the page dedicated to Nettelhorst's discussion of the passage. I like the set-up because it makes me feel like God's Word is being given priority here, rather than the author's opinions. The author's discussion of the scripture each day were also enlightening. I was surprised to be inspired to take notes from these short devotional readings each day. Nettelhorst's comments are to-the-point and useful for my daily walk with God. Clearly written and informative, I was able to avoid the boredom that I tend to associate with devotionals. Finally, the book is organized thematically, so you can easily find a daily reading on a topic that speaks most to your individual experience.

So, as you can tell, I liked A Year With God. If you've found yourself doing less daily Bible reading recently and one of your New Year's Resolutions this year is to spend more time in God's Word, this might be a good choice for you. If you are pressed for time or find long daily readings to be intimidating, the one-page daily entries are short enough and informative enough to keep your interest as well as feed your need to connect with God's Word daily.


Buy		Read

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at his website and on twitter.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)
BookSneeze

Review: Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

2011-12-26T01:01:00.000-08:00

Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Tales of Goldstone Wood #2
Genre: YA Fantasy Fiction
Pages: 384
Publication Date: July 2011
Publisher: Bethany House
Source: This book was provided for review through the Bethany House Book Reviewers program (for more information on my reviews, please view my disclosure policy).
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the publisher):

A Monster Prowls the Mountains of Southlands

Rose Red trusts no one with her secret. She hides in the forest, her face veiled in rags, shunning the company of all save her old father and her nanny goat. Her life is bleak and lonely.

Until she meets a privileged young man sent to spend his summer in the mountains. Headstrong young Leo startles everyone by befriending Rose Red, and together they begin searching for the monster rumored to be stalking these lands.

But the hunt, which began as a game, holds greater risk than either imagines. Soon both are forced to test their trust in each other as a far more terrifying scourge puts their entire land at risk.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Veiled Rose begins unassumingly enough, with little magic in evidence as young Leo explores the mountains above Hill House, where he has been sent for the summer. He'd heard rumors of a monster in the mountains, but all he has found is a little girl wearing layers of veils, named Rose Red. The two become friends, and even though he leaves for several years, their bond remains when he returns to Hill House several years later. When he learns that her father has died, he asks her to return with him to his home so he can make sure she is taken care of. But Rose Red is clearly hiding a secret, and the magical elements that had previously seemed limited to dreams build up to a crescendo with the arrival of a dragon on Leo's doorstep. What follows is a quest by Leo to free Southlands of the dragon and by Rose Red to free Leo's betrothed from the clutches of the dragon.

I liked this book, though I feel like I didn't truly understand what was going on and why certain characters were being manipulated by certain beings through dreams. It is the second book in a series, and I wonder whether I would have had a better grasp on the events and the characters if I had read the first book. Even several weeks after finishing this book and trying to digest it well enough for a review, I still think I don't completely understand what was going on. I'm definitely not entirely clear on some of the details, and I'm hoping that maybe that will be cleared up by reading the other books in the series. So even though I had moments of confusion, I liked this story well enough that I'm willing to continue with the series. I'm especially curious about where the relationship between Leo and Rose Red will lead after Leo gets married, and what will happen when the dragon returns.

Although this book is published by Bethany House, which is known for Christian fiction, the religious aspects of this story are allegorical. I think even readers who dislike Christian fiction would not find the subtle nature of the Christian allegory in this tale to be off-putting, though I can only speak for this book in the series. I'll have to read the other books to see if this holds true for the rest of the series.

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at her blog and on goodreads.
Read an excerpt of this book.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)

Reading Challenges: 2nds Challenge, Speculative Fiction Challenge

Book Beginnings on Friday: December 23, 2011

2011-12-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

☃ ☃ ☃ ☃ ☃ ☃

Once again, I've let the holiday hustle and bustle get away from me and I forgot to get this post up last night. We celebrated Christmas yesterday since we have our final walk-through on our house today and hubby is working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

In order to get this post up as quickly as possible so you can link-up your posts, I'm not going to contribute a Book Beginning this week. I hope you'll forgive me! But if you are participating this week, please do link up and I'll try to visit sometime in the coming days.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas this weekend!

What is/are the first line(s) of your current read, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Review: Flesh and Blood So Cheap by Albert Marrin

2011-12-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy by Albert Marrin
Genre: YA Non-Fiction History
Pages: 192
Publication Date: February 2011
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Source: I read an e-galley from NetGalley.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the publisher):

On March 25, 1911, the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City burst into flames. The factory was crowded. The doors were locked to ensure workers stay inside. One hundred forty-six people—mostly women—perished; it was one of the most lethal workplace fires in American history until September 11, 2001.

But the story of the fire is not the story of one accidental moment in time. It is a story of immigration and hard work to make it in a new country, as Italians and Jews and others traveled to America to find a better life. It is the story of poor working conditions and greedy bosses, as garment workers discovered the endless sacrifices required to make ends meet. It is the story of unimaginable, but avoidable, disaster. And it the story of the unquenchable pride and activism of fearless immigrants and women who stood up to business, got America on their side, and finally changed working conditions for our entire nation, initiating radical new laws we take for granted today.

With Flesh and Blood So Cheap, Albert Marrin has crafted a gripping, nuanced, and poignant account of one of America's defining tragedies.

✵✵✵✵✵✵✵✵

I like to browse through book award lists when they come out, even if I don't often read books off of those lists. But when I saw this book on the list of finalists for the National Book Award, I was intrigued. The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was devastating and sad, but the reforms that resulted from it are also very inspiring. I have always been very interested in the event, and I give a fair amount of time to discussing it in my history classes. Then I saw that NetGalley had it available for review, so I decided to give it a try.

What impressed me the most when reading this book was the way that Marrin incorporated relevant background information into a narrative not just about the fire but also about the workers, the city, the garment industry, and the sweatshops. The background information is fantastic and gives a solid base from which to better understand the setting of the tragedy. But the book explores the actual Triangle fire in less space than I expected. I think part of that feeling comes from the fact that I'm already quite familiar with the event itself and the book didn't really provide me with new information about the fire itself. But as an introduction to younger readers, or even to older readers who don't have much knowledge of the event and time period, this book does a wonderful job. The photos used in the book are also well-chosen and interesting, illustrating life in the city and providing a visual exploration of the events and people involved.

The book lost me in the last chapter, however. In the attempt to give the event wider meaning, there is a wide net thrown to show connections between it and more recent developments in the garment industry. The last chapter seemed less relevant to understanding the Triangle Fire and its more immediate consequences, so I felt like it started to go too far off-topic. And even though the author makes valid points, the last chapter was a bit preachy for my taste. Instead of reading about organized crime in the garment district in the decades following the Triangle Fire, I would have preferred to read more about the fire, its results, and the more direct consequences.

Despite not liking aspects of the last chapter and wishing there had been more space spent on the Triangle Fire and its aftermath, I do think this is a valuable book. I learned a lot about the backgrounds of immigrant workers in New York, the history of the garment industry, and the ways that the garment industry operates today in developing countries. Even though 1911 seems like ancient history to a lot of people, the world still has not learned from the lessons taught to us by the tragedy of the Triangle Fire. I would definitely suggest this book to anyone who doesn't know much about the events and people surrounding the Triangle Fire. It is well-researched and well-written, and would be an excellent introduction to the time period and the event that had such an impact on New York and the United States.

Related Linkage:

Learn more about the author's life and books at GoodReads.
Read an excerpt of this book.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)

Reading Challenges: Dewey Decimal Challenge

Review: Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson

2011-12-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson
Genre: Christian Fiction
Pages: 176
Publication Date: October 2010
Publisher: Revell
Source: I purchased the e-book from Barnes and Noble.
Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the publisher):

Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless. She is trying to restart her life, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret?

Reading Christmas at Harrington's, a story full of redemption and true holiday spirit, will be your newest Christmas tradition.

☃ ☃ ☃ ☃ ☃ ☃

Christmas at Harrington's was an unexpectedly good holiday read this year. I like to read at least one Christmas story in December, and I downloaded the ebook version of this book from Barnes and Noble on a whim. I started reading it before bed one night, intending to read a few chapters and go to sleep, but found myself reading late into the night until I was finished with it. So, it's a quick read, and one that kept me interested throughout and left me smiling when I finished the last page.

The characters in this story seemed timely and realistic, especially in our current tough economic times. There are businesses struggling to survive and people living in poverty and looking for work. But despite these aspects (which have the possibility of making a Christmas book into a real downer), there is a thread of hope throughout the story. The main character, Lena, has a story that makes her unusual in my experience. She is an older woman who has just been released from prison and is looking to start over in a new town. Her experiences in prison and the events that put her in that place could have left her jaded and down, but despite her wavering faith in God, she still remains a kind and giving person. As she finds herself and seeks to make a new life, she faces difficulties as her history comes back to haunt her. But she also blooms into a person that people respect and even love.

There is a lot to like about this little story, but what stood out to me especially was the book's message. Christmas at Harrington's was more sophisticated than I expected. I'm used to somewhat sappy Christmas stories that litter cable television this time of year, where people find true love and happiness in the season. But this story had a good message about forgiveness and the difficulties that people face when life hasn't gone the way they expected. It puts a human face on the struggles of people who are trying to rebuild their lives after serving time in prison. It speaks to the prejudices that many people have about someone with a criminal record.

My only complaint was that Lena was almost too good to be true, even with a past criminal conviction. She was always so willing to help other people--and truly selfless people like that seem so rare these days. It helped that Lena questioned her faith--it made her seem more realistic--but I knew she would return to it because that's just how she was. But in complaining about this, I also worry that I've become too jaded by our current world to not trust someone who really lives the maxim that it's better to give than to receive. In the end, although Lena's goodness bothered me a little at the back of my mind, I ultimately enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming and hopeful book to read during the Christmas season.

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at her website and on facebook.
Read an excerpt of this book.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)

Reading Challenges: Twenty Eleven Challenge (Will-Power?)

Book Beginnings on Friday: December 16, 2011

2011-12-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

When I close my eyes I see Tyneford House. In the darkness as I lay down to sleep, I see the Purbeck stone frontage in the glow of late afternoon. The sunlight glints off the upper windows, and the air is heavy with the scents of magnolia and salt. Ivy clings to the porch archway, and a magpie pecks at the lichen coating a limestone roof tile.

This is a wonderfully descriptive beginning. I can almost picture the scene in my mind. Obviously the house plays a prominent part in the story, and the beginning underlines that. It is almost reminiscent of the beginning of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.

What is/are the first line(s) of your current read, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

I'm a Dedicated Reader!

2011-12-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

This was a fun little quiz!

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Giveaway! Illustrated Hardcover edition of A Christmas Carol

2011-12-09T20:05:00.000-08:00

It is the holiday season, and I wanted to give away one of my favorite Christmas stories (which also happens to be a classic): A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I read it for the first time two Christmases ago and loved it, so when I saw this nice little edition on display at Barnes and Noble, I bought a new copy to give away. Here's what it looks like:

The book has illustrations by Arthur Rackham and the edges of the pages are rough-cut, giving it a nice vintage feeling.

"Marley's Ghost"

This is going to be a fairly quick giveaway so I can get this in the mail before Christmas (no promises it will reach you before Christmas, though--the USPS is pretty swamped this time of the year).

Just enter your information in the Rafflecopter entry form below. This is open internationally, and ends on December 16. Merry Christmas!

Book Beginnings on Friday: December 9, 2011

2011-12-08T22:42:00.000-08:00

This weekend I'm going to read Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson. Here's the first line:

The slate-colored sky matched Lena's spirits as she sprinted toward the bus stop. "Don't be late," Mrs. Stanfield had warned earlier. "The bus leaves promptly at 5:15 and there won't be another until tomorrow morning."

This beginning kept me reading because I wanted to know if Lena made it in time for the bus or not. I also wanted to know where she was going and why. This isn't necessarily a mysterious beginning, but it is a little bit exciting and made me want to read on.

What is/are the first line(s) of your current read, and what are your thoughts so far? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Guest Post by M.J. Rose, Author of the Reincarnationist series

2011-12-05T01:01:00.000-08:00

M.J. Rose's latest book in her Reincarnationist series, The Hypnotist, combines masterpiece paintings held for ransom, an ancient statue with an intriguing past, spies, murder, and research into past lives. It all makes for quite a thrilling story! Please join me in welcoming M.J. Rose to A Few More Pages today!

A few years ago I was reading a book about reincarnation and became interested in the ways that people access their past life memories. From incense to hallucinogens to hypnosis there were tools people used to help them enter deep meditation, which enabled them to access past incarnations.

What if there were twelve ancient memory tools - talismans to help people meditate into a state where they can access their past lives. And what if they’re lost to modern civilization?

And what if I wrote a series of novels – each revolving around the search for one particular memory tool?

In The Reincarnationist the tool is a group of ancient stones with a Sanskrit meditation engraved on their surfaces. In The Memorist the tool is a flute made of human bone that winds up in Beethoven's possession for a time. In The Hypnotist the tool is– well that’s the mystery of the novel.

Behind my memory tools – is the idea that we all have the ability to remember. It’s something that I’ve always been fascinated by.

As has bestselling authors Katherine Neville. She has a character in her novel, The Eight, who can "remember the future." A mental phenomenon that many famous seers claim to have possessed. Neville believes, as do I, that we all are capable of some kind of "second sight" or "sixth sense."

Many of us have ourselves – or know people who have experienced the ability to know something is going to happen just before it does. Neville told me about brain research done with electronic recording that show a surge in our frontal lobes shortly before something is about to happen — regardless of how randomly and unpredictably the stimuli may be coming in.

"We don't have a scientific explanation for how this occurs. But who cares how or why it works? It seems to me that if we all possess an important skill like this, instead of trying to find out why or how, we should try to figure out how to develop it for the betterment of our own lives and life on the planet," Neville said.

She went on to describe something that happens to her that in fact happens to me too – something I don’t often talk about because it can sound a little "out there."

When I write sometimes I come up with ideas before doing the research that the research then corroborates. Obscure and often odd things. For instance, before I started The Memorist I came up with the idea of having Beethoven as a character - and having him interested in Indian philosophy. It was a curious thought. Nothing that watching the movie Immortal Beloved might suggest. And other than seeing the move and hearing his music – I didn’t know anything about him.

And yet when I went to do the research I found he was in fact very interested in it.
Some think these phenomena are part of our cellular memory. Carl Jung believed they are part of our collective unconscious. Hindus and Buddhists believe we’ve lived before and have actual memories of previous lifetimes.

Having written three books exploring this subject, I’m personally not sure – but I remain utterly fascinated.

About the author:

M.J. Rose is the international bestselling author of 11 novels; Lip Service, In Fidelity, Flesh Tones, Sheet Music, Lying in Bed, The Halo Effect, The Delilah Complex, The Venus Fix, The Reincarnationist, The Memorist, and The Hypnotist. She is a founding member and board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. Rose has appeared on The Today Show, Fox News, The Jim Lehrer News Hour, and features on her have appeared in dozens of magazines and newspapers in the U.S. and abroad, including USA Today, Stern, Poets and Writers and Publishers Weekly. She lives in Connecticut with Doug Scofield, a composer, and their very spoiled dog, Winka.

Related Linkage:

Read my review of The Hypnotist.
Connect with the author at her website and on twitter.
Read an excerpt from this book.
View the book trailer.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)
Check out more stops on this Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour!

1st in a Series & 2nds Challenge 2012 Sign-ups!

2011-12-04T23:07:00.000-08:00

I know I've been terribly behind over the past few weeks, but I wanted to let you know that I am hosting the 1st in a Series Challenge and 2nds Challenge in 2012!

The challenges are basically the same as they have always been, but I've moved them to their own dedicated blog at A Few More (Reading) Challenges

Here are the direct links to the challenge sign-up pages:

If you have any questions or problems, please don't hesitate to ask here in the comments or over there--I've got Disqus comments installed over there.

I'm looking forward to another fun year of series books, and I hope you can join me!

Book Beginnings on Friday: December 2, 2011

2011-12-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

New York City, Saturday, March 25, 1911. One of those sparkling early-spring afternoons New Yorkers so enjoy after a cold, dreary winter. Under the cloudless blue sky, strong, bracing gusts of wind blew across Manhattan Island from the East River. The air smelled fresh and clean, and it felt good to be alive.

This is a pretty descriptive beginning, but I guess I was expecting something different--this is a very calm and unassuming beginning for a book about the Triangle Shirtwaist fire. I really don't like the sentence fragments in the beginning. I know it's a stylistic choice, but it's not one I'm generally in favor of.

What is the first line of your current read, and how did you like it? Please leave the link to your specific post, not just to the front page of your blog.

Review and Tour Stop: The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose

2011-12-01T01:01:00.000-08:00

The Hypnotist by M.J. Rose
(Book 3 of the Reincarnationist series)
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Pages: 405
Publication Date: May 2010 (hardcover); April 2011 (paperback)
Publisher: MIRA
Source: I received a free hardcover review copy to participate in this Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour.
Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Book Description (from the publisher):

Haunted by a twenty-year-old murder of a beautiful young painter, Lucian Glass keeps his demons at bay through his fascinating work as a Special Agent with the FBI's Art Crime Team. Currently investigating a crazed art collector who has begun destroying prized masterworks, Glass is thrust into a bizarre hostage negotiation that takes him undercover at the Phoenix Foundation—dedicated to the science of past-life study—where, in order to maintain his cover, he agrees to submit to the treatment of a hypnotist.

Under hypnosis, Glass travels from ancient Greece to nineteenth-century Persia, while the case takes him from New York to Paris and the movie capital of the world. These journeys will change his very understanding of reality, lead him to question his own sanity and land him at the center of perhaps the most audacious art heist in history: the theft of a 1,500-year-old sculpture from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

International bestselling author M. J. Rose's The Hypnotist is her most mesmerizing novel yet. An adventure, a love story, a clash of cultures, a spiritual quest, it is above all a thrilling capstone to her unique Reincarnationist novels, The Reincarnationist and The Memorist.

✵✵✵✵✵✵✵✵

The Hypnotist is a suspenseful thriller that has a wide array of exciting elements: stolen artwork held for ransom, an ancient statue with a shady past and intriguing mythology, covert operations by the FBI, Iranian spies and terrorists, murder, and underneath it all the supernatural possibility that some of the people involved are connected through their past lives. To me, The Hypnotist reminded me a lot of a Dan Brown-type of thriller, where historical artifacts are more than what they seem and people are so determined to acquire them that they will kill to get them if necessary. The difference, though, is that M.J. Rose's characters are deeper and more interesting--the reader gets to know their backgrounds and feelings better, and that makes a big difference in being able to connect with the characters. They are also complicated people, with conflicting motives and not always easy to predict.

I mentioned above that the book raises the possibility of reincarnation, and much of the action centers on the hunt for "Memory Tools" which would help people to reach the deep meditation needed to access past-life memories. At times the reincarnation thread of the story could be a bit heavy on the supernatural for my taste, but there are points where some of the characters in the story debate whether what they're experiencing is truly evidence of reincarnation or something else. One of the prominent characters in the book was Dr. Malachi Samuels, a therapist who works with children on past lives and is highly motivated to find the Memory Tools. He was an especially interesting character because I had a hard time pinning down whether he was on the good side or the bad side until the end of the novel.

Regardless of my own views on reincarnation (I don't believe in it), the suspense and intrigue kept me guessing and the characters were believably complex. For some reason I struggled a little in the beginning keeping the characters straight in my head, but the second half of the book really kept me turning the pages. I recommend this book to thriller fans who find the possibility of past lives to be an interesting topic.

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at her website and on twitter.
Author Guest Post at A Few More Pages
Read an excerpt from this book.
View the book trailer.
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)
Check out more stops on this Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour!

Reading Challenges: Mystery & Suspense Challenge

Review & Tour Stop: The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier

2011-11-29T00:13:00.000-08:00

The Printmaker's Daughter by Katherine Govier
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 512
Publication Date: November 2011
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Source: A paperback copy was provided to me by the publisher to participate in this TLC Book Tour.
Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Book Description (from the publisher):

Recounting the story of her life, Oei plunges us into the colorful world of nineteenth-century Edo, in which courtesans rub shoulders with poets, warriors consort with actors, and the arts flourish in an unprecedented moment of creative upheaval. Oei and Hokusai live among writers, novelists, tattoo artists, and prostitutes, evading the spies of the repressive shogunate as they work on Hokusai’s countless paintings and prints. Wielding her brush, rejecting domesticity in favor of dedication to the arts, Oei defies all expectations of womanhood—all but one. A dutiful daughter to the last, she will obey the will of her eccentric father, the man who created her and who, ultimately, will rob her of her place in history.

Vivid, daring, and unforgettable, The Printmaker’s Daughter shines fresh light on art, loyalty, and the tender and indelible bond between a father and daughter.

❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦❦

The Printmaker's Daughter is a vivid portrayal of 1800s Japan, told through the eyes of an unusual woman. Oei was an artist, taught by her father Hokusai, who was one of Japan's most famous artists. She was also his favored child, born when he was 40 years old, and her talents and personality made her unlike most Japanese women (this idea is raised throughout the novel). She learned complicated and conflicting lessons under Hokusai's roof. On the one hand, she honed her skills and focused on her art while disdaining the idea that she should perform the more traditional duties expected of women (like cooking and sewing). And yet she was a dutiful and loyal daughter, making sure that her father was fed and his bills were paid, tutoring his students when he was too busy following his own whims, painting under his name, and caring for him in his old age. At various times she resents him, wishing she could go out and "make a living as one brush," but at the same time she feared what she would do and who she would be without him.

I was caught off-guard by how well this book sucked me into the story. Although Hokusai had fame, his family was by no means rich. The government at the time was repressive and censored the arts throughout his lifetime, making it hard for him to make a living. He also tended to imagine himself above the more trivial matters of managing his finances (no wonder his daughter adopted a similar attitude about women's traditional duties) and his livelihood was threatened by those who imitated his work under his name. So Hokusai and his family lived a somewhat ordinary lower-class life, though he did surround himself with other artists at times. They lived among courtesans and painted scenes from ordinary life, which offered an interesting peek into the pleasure district and peasant life.

While I have little background in Japanese history of this time period, the book strikes me as well-researched and beautifully detailed. I was especially enthralled by the author's Afterword, which is a 25-page essay on the historical basis of the novel. Oei is an actual historical figure, but a lot of her life and work is subject to speculation. It is unknown how much of the work attributed to Hokusai was actually done or aided by Oei. But as the author points out, there are various scholars and art collectors who have suspicions and theories based on historical accounts and analysis of the art. It is a fascinating historical question, but one that so far has been mostly limited to speculation--which I think forms an excellent basis for historical fiction.

The novel covers a rather long period of time and so in places it jumps several years within a few pages. I sometimes find large jumps in time like that to be bothersome, but for some reason I wasn't bothered by that in this case. A couple of other reviews I've seen of this book have commented that they thought the book dragged in places, but I never felt that way. I was kept fascinated and immersed in Oei's story. I imagine part of it was the writing. Govier tells the story in first-person through Oei's eyes, and her prose is often poetic and introspective. I marked many passages in this book with sticky notes so I could return to them again.

The Great Wave by Hokusai

As I neared the end of this book, I found myself wrapped up in Oei and Hokusai's lives and dying to explore some of the artwork mentioned within the pages. The author's website provides several examples of both Hokusai's and Oei's work. The one image I was familiar with was "The Great Wave," and now I am even more drawn to seek out more of these artists' images.

Oei's story reminded me a bit of a couple of other historical fiction novels I've read about female artists: The Creation of Eve by Lyn Cullen and The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland. In both cases I think the artists are a bit more well-known than Oei, but I felt the same kind of fascination in observing the ways they challenged gender and cultural norms of their times. I think what struck me the most about Oei's story, though, was that even though I am a 21st century Westerner, I could identify with some of her internal struggles and found her to be a sympathetic and sparkling character. And along with a desire to seek out more of Hokusai and Oei's artwork, I was also left with an interest in learning more about the history of Japan in the 1800s, especially since the book takes place at the time of the opening of Japan to the West and the years leading up to it.

If you are at all interested in historical fiction about artists or set in Japan (or both!), I highly recommend this title to you. I think it will probably make my list of favorite reads of 2011. I'm really glad I made the time to read this one.

(I should mention that there are some intimate scenes in this book. They weren't especially racy or overly sensual for my sensibilities, but I thought I'd throw that out there for readers who don't want to be surprised by that kind of thing.)

Related Linkage:

Connect with the author at her website, on twitter, on facebook.
Read an excerpt of this book.
My favorite lines from the book (at my tumblr)
Purchase this book at The Book Depository or IndieBound (affiliate links)
Check out more stops on this TLC Book Tour!

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction Challenge, POC Reading Challenge, TwentyEleven Challenge (With a Twist)