Hachette has provided me with three copies of My Paper Chase by Harold Evans to giveaway.
Here's the publisher description of My Paper Chase:
"In My Paper Chase, Harold Evans recounts the wild and wonderful tale of newspapering life. His story stretches from the 1930s to his service in WWII, through towns big and off the map. He discusses his passion for the crusading style of reportage he championed, his clashes with Rupert Murdoch, and his struggle to use journalism to better the lives of those less fortunate. There's a star-studded cast and a tremendously vivid sense of what once was: the lead type, the smell of the presses, eccentrics throughout, and angry editors screaming over the intercoms. My Paper Chase tells the story of Evans's great loves: newspapers and Tina Brown, the bright, young journalist who became his wife.
In an age when newspapers everywhere are under threat, My Paper Chase is not just a glorious recounting of an amazing life, but a nostalgic journey in black and white."
The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on November 28. Winners will be selected at random. Since this is from Hachette the winners must have mailing addresses in the US or Canada; no PO Boxes.
Friday, November 13, 2009
review: how to catch and keep a vampire by diana laurence
With the nation’s vampire obsession once again in full-swing, Diana Laurence’s How to Catch and Keep a Vampire has arrived right on time. This is for everyone who ever wanted to date a vampire, but just didn’t know how to go about finding one. Turns there’s not a lot of difference between dating a vampire and dating a mortal. Though Laurence does caution against allowing a vampire boyfriend to go too far when drinking some of your blood. Then there’s that pesky mind-control thing. Laurence’s tips will help make dating a vampire an experience that’s as safe as you want it to be.
Sprinkled throughout the book are FAQs, case studies, and other great little tidbits like vampire pick-up lines. Laurence also dispels some myths about vampires. For example, vampires can enter your home without permission; they’re just being polite when they don’t. How to Catch and Keep a Vampire is hilarious and entertaining, but Laurence also takes the subject very seriously.
4/5
Sprinkled throughout the book are FAQs, case studies, and other great little tidbits like vampire pick-up lines. Laurence also dispels some myths about vampires. For example, vampires can enter your home without permission; they’re just being polite when they don’t. How to Catch and Keep a Vampire is hilarious and entertaining, but Laurence also takes the subject very seriously.
4/5
Thursday, November 12, 2009
review: children of dust by ali eteraz
Before Ali Eteraz was born, his father promised Allah that if his child was a boy that child would “become a great leader and servant of Islam.” Eteraz’s parents named him Abir ul Islam which translates to “perfume of Islam.” As a child living in Pakistan, Eteraz didn’t have much desire to follow his parents’ plans; but later they move to America and things change for Eteraz. He wants to follow the religious teachings, but he’s also interested in girls and sexual contact is forbidden. The online world ends up providing an outlet. Eteraz has some great descriptions in this part of how he tried to hide from his parents the screeching sound of AOL starting.
A few years later, Eteraz goes to college. He moves from one religious extremity to another during his early adult life and undergoes a name change before emphasizing his birth name in order to convince others to follow his instructions. This period is then followed by the name he currently uses; he became Ali Eteraz when he became a reformist. Tragically, Eteraz lost his family and some friends when he became so passionate about reformation.
Children of Dust is really a remarkable story written so that even someone totally unfamiliar with Islamic teachings can understand. I was impressed with Eteraz’s writing; he described places I’ve never been vividly enough that I could picture them.
5/5
A few years later, Eteraz goes to college. He moves from one religious extremity to another during his early adult life and undergoes a name change before emphasizing his birth name in order to convince others to follow his instructions. This period is then followed by the name he currently uses; he became Ali Eteraz when he became a reformist. Tragically, Eteraz lost his family and some friends when he became so passionate about reformation.
Children of Dust is really a remarkable story written so that even someone totally unfamiliar with Islamic teachings can understand. I was impressed with Eteraz’s writing; he described places I’ve never been vividly enough that I could picture them.
5/5
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
giveaway: white picket fences
WaterBrook Multnomah has provided me with a copy of Susan Meissner's White Picket Fences to giveaway to one lucky person!
My review is here. This is the publisher's description:
"When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless, and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands– in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm– and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a 'normal' life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.
Seventeen-year-old Chase Janvier hasn’t seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn’t expect her arrival will affect him much–or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams unbeknownst to anyone else.
Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won’t make them go away.
Will Tally’s presence blow apart their carefully-constructed world, knocking down the illusion of the white picket fence and reveal a hidden past that could destroy them all–or can she help them find the truth without losing each other?"
The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on November 21. Winner will be selected at random. Open to all US residents; PO Boxes are just fine this time.
My review is here. This is the publisher's description:
"When her black sheep brother disappears, Amanda Janvier eagerly takes in her sixteen year-old niece Tally. The girl is practically an orphan: motherless, and living with a father who raises Tally wherever he lands– in a Buick, a pizza joint, a horse farm– and regularly takes off on wild schemes. Amanda envisions that she, her husband Neil, and their two teenagers can offer the girl stability and a shot at a 'normal' life, even though their own storybook lives are about to crumble.
Seventeen-year-old Chase Janvier hasn’t seen his cousin in years, and other than a vague curiosity about her strange life, he doesn’t expect her arrival will affect him much–or interfere with his growing, disturbing interest in a long-ago house fire that plagues his dreams unbeknownst to anyone else.
Tally and Chase bond as they interview two Holocaust survivors for a sociology project, and become startlingly aware that the whole family is grappling with hidden secrets, with the echoes of the past, and with the realization that ignoring tragic situations won’t make them go away.
Will Tally’s presence blow apart their carefully-constructed world, knocking down the illusion of the white picket fence and reveal a hidden past that could destroy them all–or can she help them find the truth without losing each other?"
The rules: Enter by leaving a comment to this post with your email (if I can't contact you, you can't win). You can gain additional entries by leaving separate comments letting me know that you're a follower or have posted a link to the giveaway on your site. The deadline to enter is 11:59pm Pacific on November 21. Winner will be selected at random. Open to all US residents; PO Boxes are just fine this time.
review and tour: white picket fences by susan meissner
Amanda and Neil have a superficially perfect life with two great kids, Chase and Delcey. The truth of their life starts to come out when they wind up with temporary custody of Amanda's niece, Tally. Although they didn't entirely want Tally living with them, it turns out to be a very good thing as the family is forced to admit the truth about a secret tragedy that happened many years ago. Another secret comes out when Chase, Tally, and a friend of Chase's interview two Polish men who survived the Holocaust.
Most of White Picket Fences was well done with a good plot. Delcey and Neil weren't really developed, but Amanda, Chase, and Tally all seemed realistic. My biggest problem with the story came near the end. Throughout White Picket Fences, Chase pursues the truth about what happened when he was a small child. His parents have refused to talk about it, though Amanda has started to realize that Chase probably remembers at least something about the terrible fire. She wants to talk to him, but Neil convinces her not to say anything because of a secret he'd kept from her; this causes some trouble for the marriage. The couple never ends up dealing with this problem, which left me wondering if they'd just go on pretending they have a great marriage. Furthermore, when Chase finally remembers exactly what happened the day of the fire, it's far too convenient. In some ways I wish there'd be more about the Holocaust survivors and the family's connection.
3/5
There's a giveaway with this tour. Also, check out the other participating sites:
familycorner.blogspot.com
whiteplatonicdreams.blogspot.com
homeschoolblogger.com
luxuryreading.com
jeannesramblings.com
Most of White Picket Fences was well done with a good plot. Delcey and Neil weren't really developed, but Amanda, Chase, and Tally all seemed realistic. My biggest problem with the story came near the end. Throughout White Picket Fences, Chase pursues the truth about what happened when he was a small child. His parents have refused to talk about it, though Amanda has started to realize that Chase probably remembers at least something about the terrible fire. She wants to talk to him, but Neil convinces her not to say anything because of a secret he'd kept from her; this causes some trouble for the marriage. The couple never ends up dealing with this problem, which left me wondering if they'd just go on pretending they have a great marriage. Furthermore, when Chase finally remembers exactly what happened the day of the fire, it's far too convenient. In some ways I wish there'd be more about the Holocaust survivors and the family's connection.
3/5
There's a giveaway with this tour. Also, check out the other participating sites:
familycorner.blogspot.com
whiteplatonicdreams.blogspot.com
homeschoolblogger.com
luxuryreading.com
jeannesramblings.com
Sunday, November 8, 2009
review: cult insanity by irene spencer
In Cult Insanity, Irene Spencer describes life with the LeBaron family at their polygamist colony in Mexico. At sixteen, Irene married one of the LeBaron brothers (who was already married to her half-sister) against her parents’ wishes. Her parents were not against the marriage for the reason many parents would be; they were polygamists as well and had no problem with the teenaged Irene marrying her sister's husband. Irene married Verlan in secret because her family felt the LeBarons were insane and didn't want any more associations with them.
From the title, I assumed the author was declaring all followers of fundamental Mormonism to be insane followers of a cult. That's not the impression I ended up with as I read the book. It seems she determined her parents had been right about insanity running in the LeBaron family and that it was the LeBaron factions that were cults. Polygamy is never really condemned although she is now in a monogamous relationship. I have to wonder if she would've ever left had her first husband not died. I felt this even more when I read about the time in Dallas where Irene gained some independence. She concludes the chapter on that part of her life with this, "I felt it my God-given duty to call Verlan and have him come rescue all of us before three more wives abandoned him."
Cult Insanity is not particularly well-written (though one must not entirely fault the author who stopped attending school at ninth grade). It lacks cohesiveness and likely would've read better as separate essays since it jumps around in time so much. While I appreciated the family tree for Ervil, I definitely could've used one for the entire compound. There were so many people who lived there (many with the same or similar names) who intermarried so many times that it was hard to keep them all straight. At any given moment while reading the book, I couldn't say for certain how many sister-wives Irene had.
2/5
From the title, I assumed the author was declaring all followers of fundamental Mormonism to be insane followers of a cult. That's not the impression I ended up with as I read the book. It seems she determined her parents had been right about insanity running in the LeBaron family and that it was the LeBaron factions that were cults. Polygamy is never really condemned although she is now in a monogamous relationship. I have to wonder if she would've ever left had her first husband not died. I felt this even more when I read about the time in Dallas where Irene gained some independence. She concludes the chapter on that part of her life with this, "I felt it my God-given duty to call Verlan and have him come rescue all of us before three more wives abandoned him."
Cult Insanity is not particularly well-written (though one must not entirely fault the author who stopped attending school at ninth grade). It lacks cohesiveness and likely would've read better as separate essays since it jumps around in time so much. While I appreciated the family tree for Ervil, I definitely could've used one for the entire compound. There were so many people who lived there (many with the same or similar names) who intermarried so many times that it was hard to keep them all straight. At any given moment while reading the book, I couldn't say for certain how many sister-wives Irene had.
2/5
giveaway winners: prime time
Congratulations to Marian who won both Prime Time and the tote bag. The other two winners (who each get a copy of Prime Time) are holdenj and Bingo.
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