Saturday, October 31, 2009

Winners of Breaking The Bank by Yona Zeldis McDonough

Winners of Breaking The Bank by Yona Zeldis McDonough

Gwendolyn - geebeereads who said:

Books and chocolate -- what's better than that?! I've visited Manhattan quite a bit, but never been to Brooklyn. One of these days, I'll have to hop the bridge! I'd like to read this book for the fantasy vs. reality element. Everyone likes to dream about what they'd do with a windfall, but what would it really, really be like? Thanks for the chance to win a copy!

Amy (Aimala127) who said:

I've been living in Brooklyn for 11 years now and live close to Park Slope. I love several of the places Yona Zeldis McDonough writes about in her post on favorite places in New York City, especially The Strand and Rizzoli's, two very different book stores but both very good places for books! I've never tried the tea salon she mentions and plan to soon. I usually opt for one of the many dessert & coffee shops or the popular cupcake places around NYC, but I love tea so I'm looking forward to trying Marie Belle Cacoa Bar/Tea Salon.

I've contacted the winners and they have until Monday to send me their mailing addresses. Gwendolyn won the book on another site, so I've picked another winner. Thank you all for participating!

Thank you so much to Sarah and Pocket Books for sponsoring this giveaway!

Book Giveaway: The Gate House by Nelson DeMille

Valerie and Hatchette Book Group are generously sponsoring a giveaway of 5 copies of the long-awaited sequel to The Gold Coast, Nelson DeMille's The Gate House.

The Gate House About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher:

#1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille delivers the long-awaited follow-up to his classic novel The Gold Coast.

When John Sutter's aristocratic wife killed her mafia don lover, John left America and set out in his sailboat on a three-year journey around the world, eventually settling in London. Now, ten years later, he has come home to the Gold Coast, that stretch of land on the North Shore of Long Island that once held the greatest concentration of wealth and power in America, to attend the imminent funeral of an old family servant.

Taking up temporary residence in the gatehouse of Stanhope Hall, John finds himself living only a quarter of a mile from Susan who has also returned to Long Island. But Susan isn't the only person from John's past who has reemerged: Though Frank Bellarosa, infamous Mafia don and Susan's ex-lover, is long dead, his son, Anthony, is alive and well, and intent on two missions: Drawing John back into the violent world of the Bellarosa family, and exacting revenge on his father's murderer--Susan Sutter.

At the same time, John and Susan's mutual attraction resurfaces and old passions begin to reignite, and John finds himself pulled deeper into a familiar web of seduction and betrayal. In The Gate House, acclaimed author Nelson Demille brings us back to that fabled spot on the North Shore -- a place where past, present, and future collides with often unexpected results.

About the Author, courtesy of his website:

Nelson Richard DeMille was born in New York City and moved as a child with his family to Long Island. He has three children, Lauren, Alexander, and James, and still lives on Long Island.

DeMille's earlier books were NYPD detective novels. His first major novel was By the Rivers of Babylon, published in 1978 and still in print, as are all his succeeding novels. He is a member of The Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America, and American Mensa. He holds three honorary doctorates: Doctor of Humane Letters from Hofstra University, Doctor of Literature from Long Island University, and Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College.

Nelson DeMille is the author of: By the Rivers of Babylon, Cathedral, The Talbot Odyssey, Word of Honor, The Charm School, The Gold Coast, The General's Daughter, Spencerville, Plum Island, The Lion's Game, Up Country, Night Fall, and Wild Fire. He also co-authored Mayday with Thomas Block and has contributed short stories, book reviews, and articles to magazines and newspapers.

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, tell us if you've read any of Nelson DeMille's novels and which one you like best. If you aren't familiar with his work, just say why you'd like this book.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 30, 2009. Thank you so much, Valerie and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Guest post & book review of Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera by Ron Schick

To guest post and review today, we have Rosario Lapus, who is a docent at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. I had shown her the book some time ago and she graciously offered to share her thoughts on Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera by Ron Schick. I eagerly took her up on her offer. Please welcome, Rosario Lapus, one of my favorite people and my mother!

Norman Rockwell: Behind the Camera

This book provides an elaborate and captivating look into the creative process followed by one of the most truly American of artists.

A gifted storyteller, Norman Rockwell made use of photography to expand on a theme and create a realistic setting for his story illustrations. With “props bought, borrowed or rented”, he constructed a scene that was detailed and natural, peopled by neighbors and friends. These scenes were authentic simply because the people were real. He portrayed American life with gusto and great fidelity.

Known as the “kid with the camera eye”, the camera was the instrument used by Rockwell to serve as interface of the eye and the canvas, capturing the nuances and details of a scene which he later edited to reflect his own vision. Much like today’s art director, he created a setting, cut and pasted some parts, then filled them with action and color to obtain the end-result he wanted.

These visual images Rockwell created with the help of the camera resonated with the ordinary American. With titles like: “Merry Christmas, Grandma… we came in our new Plymouth” (1951); “Maternity Waiting Room “ (1946); “Leaving the Hospital” (1954) these domestic vignettes realistically conveyed the excitement, anxiety, and various emotions of people settling into family life after almost a decade of war and deprivation. The automobile, the newest symbol of prosperity, brought a new way of life and clearly captivated him and his audience.

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (October 22, 2009)224 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.


Thank you so much Rosario for the guest review! And a huge thank you to Anna and Hatchette Book Group for this review opportunity.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Book Book Blog Tour of Pendragon's Banner by Helen Hollick

I've long been fascinated with King Arthur and am excited to be part of the Book Blog Tour of Pendragon's Banner: Book Two of the Pendragon's Banner Prophesy by Hellen Hollick. As the author points out in the notes to her book: "the why, when, how, and where of Arthur himself is individual. I am not expecting anyone necessarily to agree with my telling, but then, this is only an imaginative story. A new retelling of an old, familiar tale."

The blurb:
"Morgause had set these dark thoughts of foreboding, she was with her high laugh and gloating eyes, Morgause who delighted in nurturing the belief of witchcraft. If you come after me, Pendragon, none of your sons shall live..."

Three years have passed since the mist cleared to reveal the Pendragon Banner triumphant. Arthur is king. But the crown, once won, must be defended.

He is a man about whom legends will be told. With his loyal and fiercely valiant wife Gwenhwyfar by his side, and three sons to his name, twenty-four-year-old King Arthur takes on the burdern of the country battling for its very soul.

But before the harpers sing of glory, before the tales of brave daring and skill, a young man must win his place as the greatest warrior of all Britain...and the greatest king of all time.

Review:
I thoroughly enjoyed Helen Hollick's retelling of this early part of King Arthur's life. Unlike the medieval Arthur who seemed focused on the crusades and the older King who would hold festivals and jousts, the Arthur that we meet in Pendragon's Banner is a young king occupied with winning battles - much of the book is devoted to wresting control of his territory and keeping the land from invaders. Hollick's Arthur is deep into the work of creating his kingdom. He does not yet have his own castle, his Camelot and his round table is just a glimmer of a thought. He must still go through a great deal before establishing himself as the King Arthur of legend, but we can see from the man that he is in Pendragon's Banner the king that he will become.

It is easy to care for Arthur, his loyal and skilled Artoriani and his loyal wife Gwenhywyfar. When they face the cunning and treachery of Arthur's longtime enemy Morgause, it make for a gripping tale and a satisfying read.

Hollick weaves in bits of the Arthurian legend, details of the man that hint at his life and legend as king. Plus, Hollick's fight scenes are gripping and well done - and as enjoyable as those found in a good Bernard Cornwell tale.

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (September 2009), 496 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

Thank you so much to Paul and Sourcebooks for this review opportunity!

Book Blog Tour of Star Trek Voyager: Unworthy by Kirsten Beyer

Star Trek: Voyager: Unworthy

The blurb:
Freed with a thought, the greatest menace to humanity, the Borg, are gone, absorbed into the Caeliar gestalt. But are they? Can this deadly menace that has hovered over humanity for decades be truly gone? Might some shadow of the Caeliar remain? The Federation decides that they have to know, and Starfleet is ordered to find out.

The Starship Voyager leads a fleet into a region of space that has lived in fear of instant annihilation for generations: the Delta quadrant, home of the Borg. Afsarah Eden - the new captain of Voyager - is charged with getting answers, to reach out to possible allies and resolve old enmities in the Delta quadrant.

The perfection that was given to the Borg was withheld from Seven of Nine. Left behind, she is living a twilight existence - neither Borg nor human - and slowly going mad. The whispers of the Collective, comforting murmurs she has always known, are replaced with a voice deep withinher that keeps insisting she is Annika Hansen. Chakotay, the former captain of Voyager, offers to help Seven rendezvous with the ships that Starfleet Command has sent into the Delta quadrant, the probable destination of the mysterious Caeliar.

These are not the friendly stars of the Federation; the unknown and the unexpected are the everyday.

Review:
Unworthy is the latest in the Star Trek Voyager series. While I am not that familiar with the Star Trek Voyager novels, I've enjoyed watching Star Trek on TV. This latest installment, Unworthy, smoothly portrays the Voyager characters and introduces the new captain of the Starship Voyager, Afsarah Eden. Kirsten Beyer includes enough background that new readers can reasonably follow the story, although I felt that I would have benefited by having read the earlier book.

The characters' internal conflicts and the tension between crew members interesting and helped move the story along. I was most interested in the women portrayed in Unworthy. Captain Afsarah Eden, Lieutenant Nancy Conlon, B'Elanna Torres as a civilian, and even Seven (Annika) were well developed and nuanced personalities whose issues and conflicts drew me in. Overall, Star Trek Voyager: Unworthy was an enjoyable read - although while reading it, you are aware that it is only part of the larger Star Trek Voyager series.

Publisher: Star Trek (September 29, 2009), 384 pages.
A review copy was provided by the publisher.


About the Author, courtesy of Amazon:
Kirsten Beyer is the author of Star Trek:Voyage-- String Theory: Fusion, the APO novel Alias--Once Lost, and contributed the short story "Isabo's Shirt" to the Distant Shores Anthology. In 2006 Kirsten appeared at Hollywood's Unknown Theater in their productions of Johnson over Jordan, This Old Planet , and Harold Pinter's The Hothouse, which the L.A. Times called "unmissable." She also appeared in the Geffen Playhouse's world premiere of Quills and has been seen on General Hospital, Passions, and the indie feature Stomping Grounds. She has also been featured in several commercials.

A huge thank you to Sarah and Pocket Books for this review opportunity!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of The Liar in Your Life: The Way to Truthful Relationships by Robert Feldman

I saw this title and thought that this book might be useful for me! What with all sorts of small conflicts and trying to start my law practice. I was a little skeptical at first, but once I'd listened to an excerpt and read the author's credentials, I was sold!

I'd like to thank Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring a giveaway of 3 copies of the audio book of The Liar in Your Life: The Way to Truth in Relationships by Robert Feldman.

Listen to an excerpt.

About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher:

Deception is a central feature of everyday life. We hear it not only from Presidents ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman"), the dean of admissions of M.I.T. ("I have three college degrees"), or the sleazy sales associate at the local car dealership ("This SUV gets terrific mileage!"); we also hear lies from the people we meet and interact with on a daily basis, including our family, friends, colleagues-and yes, the woman ahead of us in line at Starbucks.

The issue confronting us is not whether people lie to us-they do-but how much and why. Just as importantly, we need to consider why we're so prone to believe the deception we hear from others, as well as the lies we tell ourselves. Finally, we need to explore why we view certain lies as harmless, while rejecting others as manipulative and shameful. Robert Feldman has unique knowledge of how deeply dishonesty is engrained in our everyday lives and broader culture.

About the Author, courtesy of the Publisher:

Robert S. Feldman, Ph.D., is uniquely qualified to write You're a Liar, But So Am I. A Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and Association for Psychological Science, his research has examined lying and everyday deception for over 25 years. His studies have been supported by grants from the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research. An Associate Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences and Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, he is the recipient of the College Outstanding Teacher Award and was a Hewlett Teaching Fellow and Senior Online Education Fellow.

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please share a recent lie that you've told.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of NurtureShock by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman

Thank you so much to Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring the giveaway of 3 audio books of NurtureShock by Po Bronson & Ashley Merryman.

About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher:

In a world of modern, involved, caring parents, why are so many kids aggressive and cruel? Where is intelligence hidden in the brain, and why does that matter? Why do cross-racial friendships decrease in schools that are more integrated? If 98% of kids think lying is morally wrong, then why do 98% of kids lie? What's the single most important thing that helps infants learn language?


NurtureShock is a groundbreaking collaboration between award-winning science journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They argue that when it comes to children, we've mistaken good intentions for good ideas. With impeccable storytelling and razor-sharp analysis, they demonstrate that many of modern society's strategies for nurturing children are in fact backfiring--because key twists in the science have been overlooked.


Nothing like a parenting manual, the authors' work is an insightful exploration of themes and issues that transcend children's and adults') lives.

About the Authors, courtesy of the Publisher:

Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's New York Magazine articles on the science of children won the magazine journalism award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well as the Clarion Award from the Association for Women in Communications. Their articles for Time Magazine won the award for outstanding journalism from the Council on Contemporary Families. Bronson has authored five books, including the #1 New York Times bestseller What Should I Do With My Life?

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please tell us why you'd like this book.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Do you believe in numerology? Book Contest for Seven: The Number for Happiness, Love and Success by Jacqueline Leo

A big thank you to Anna and Hatchette Books Group for sponsoring the giveaway for Seven: The Number for Happiness, Love, and Success by Jacqueline Leo.

I actually signed up to review this book because my younger brother is convinced that 7 is his lucky number. He was born on the 7th of the month in 1977 and has a wonderfully pleasant temperament. It's because of him that I'd like to find out more about the number 7 and whether it does have any relationship to happiness, love and success.

If you're reading this, then you must share some of my curiosity.

About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher:
What is it about the number seven that has such a hold on us? Why are there seven deadly sins? Seven days of the week? Seven wonders of the world, seven colors of the spectrum, seven ages of man, and seven sister colleges? Why can we hold seven numbers or words in our working memory--but no more? Author Jackie Leo explores everything about this mystical, magical, useful, and fun number in her new book.

SEVEN REASONS YOU NEED THIS BOOK

1. SEVEN is a tool to improve the quality of your life.
It is a way to define time, synthesize ideas, and keep your mind performing at top speed in an era of distractions.

2. SEVEN is culturally significant. It pops up everywhere, structuring our world in ways so fundamental, we notice them only when we pause to look. Across the ages and across cultures, the number has acquired a huge scientific, psychological, and religious significance.

3. SEVEN is intriguing. Why, out of hundreds of recipes in a cookbook, do people return to the same seven, over and over? Why, when asked to choose a number between one and ten, does such a large majority of people choose seven? Why does it take seven rounds of shuffling to obtain a fully mixed deck of cards?

4. SEVEN is influential. You'll learn how the number seven shapes our thinking, our choices, and even our relationships.

5. SEVEN is practical. Throughout this book are Top Seven lists covering the best ways to get someone's attention, to build your personal brand, and to put yourself in the path of prosperity and good luck.

6. SEVEN is fun. You'll encounter surprising facts, intriguing puzzles, and hilarious anecdotes.

7. SEVEN is wise. You'll hear stories about the meaning of seven from Mehmet Oz, Sally Quinn, Liz Smith, Christina Ricci, and many others.
Artfully designed and full of enough insights to keep you engaged in conversation at the water cooler for years, SEVEN will provoke, enlighten, and amuse.

About the Author, courtesy of the Publisher:
Media guru Jacqueline Leo has held a number of high-level positions in publishing and television. She founded and launched Child magazine in 1986, and went on to be editor in chief of Family Circle magazine and editorial director of the New York Times Women's Magazine Group, where she launched Fitness magazine. She was senior producer and editorial director of Good Morning America, editorial director for Consumer Reports, and vice president and editor in chief of Reader's Digest. She is currently director of digital operations for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. She lives in New York City.

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please tell us why you'd like this book.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at 7pm on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Saturday Nov. 14 in Brooklyn! The Asian American Writers' Workshop presents The Asian American Literary Festival

If you're in the NYC area (or can get there) on Saturday, November 14, consider visiting the Asian American Literary Festival.

They have a wide range of events. It's a relative bargain at $5 per reading and $20 for an all day pass (10 readings), particularly given the talks that they've organized. Intrigued? Check out the Asian American Literary Festival website at http://pageturnerfest.org/
.
Here are the talks on my list, descriptions lifted from the Asian American Literary Festival website. Glance at the schedule and come up with your own list.

Hard-Boiled India: Stories from the Delhi Noir anthology

In Delhi Noir, the capital becomes a backdrop of dark, unhinged stories of crime and betrayal. Hirsh Sawhney, Meera Nair and Mohan Sikka read from the fourteen stories that make up this exhilarating anthology. Hear Delhi unsentimental and uncut, the Delhi you're missing out on because mainstream publishing houses and glossy magazines can't stomach it.

OR

One-Way or Round Trip? Immigrant Arrival and Return

Immigration isn't a one-way ticket. Most immigrants must make a vital choice: to plant roots or return to their homeland. But what determines where an immigrant journey ends? Columbia University Professor Mae Ngai, Mitra Suburban Sahibs Kalita, and Kavitha Muslims of Metropolis Rajagopalan discuss how many immigrants answer the question, to paraphrase The Clash, Should I stay or should I go?

AND

The New Eclectics

From Chinese cops to Asian dating to immigrant name changes, four writers are creating a new genre of quirk and comedy. Come hear your friends Porochista Sons and Other Flammable Objects Khakpour, who the New York Times Book Review praised for her “punchy conversation" and "sharp humor”; Sesshu World Ball Notebook Foster, American Book Award Winner whose latest contains prose poems, shopping lists and overheard conversations, Ed This Is A Bust Lin, winner of the most AAWW Members' Choice awards in the Workshop's history, and Rolling Stone-featured comedian Jen Kwok of Date an Asian fame. A reading with verve and risk. Watch out, there may be some laughing involved.

AND

Everyone's a Critic!

Well, everyone thinks they are. A review can influence how the public interacts with a work and even create enemies in the process. Three of today's most prominent critics (and friends!)--Believer magazine editor Ed Park, music critic Hua Hsu, and former Village Voice film critic Dennis Lim--talk about life in the review trade. Come hear them share anecdotes and tips about the craft of criticism.

OR

Registered: Narratives of Internment and Detention

How post-9/11 are post-9/11 civil liberties? From WWII Japanese internment to recent round-ups of South Asians, internment has played a shadowed role in Asian American experience. Across generations and ethnicities, civilians found that the country they thought of as home had thought of them as enemies. A fascinating multi-disciplinary talk with documentary filmmaker Rea Tajiri, UC Davis professor Sunaina Maira, author of the newly released Missing: Youth, Citizenship, and Empire After 9/11, and novelist Julie When the Emperor was Divine Otsuka, whose grandfather was arrested by the FBI in 1941.

Plus, Jhumpa Lahiri will talk about her latest work Unaccustomed Earth.

The Asian American Literary Festival is organized by The Asian American Writers' Workshop, a nonprofit literary arts organization that was started in 1991 to promote and support writers, literature and community. The Asian American Writers' Workshop is located at 16 West 32nd St, Suite 10A, New York, NY 10001.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November

I heard about NaNoWriMo through the Barnes & Noble First Look Book Club. Another First Looker asked Katherine Howe, author of The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, if she had ever tried it. I looked it up and signed up - last Spring!

Here's the description of NaNoWriMo on its website:

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30.

Valuing enthusiasm and perseverance over painstaking craft, NaNoWriMo is a novel-writing program for everyone who has thought fleetingly about writing a novel but has been scared away by the time and effort involved.

Because of the limited writing window, the ONLY thing that matters in NaNoWriMo is output. It's all about quantity, not quality. The kamikaze approach forces you to lower your expectations, take risks, and write on the fly.

Make no mistake: You will be writing a lot of crap. And that's a good thing. By forcing yourself to write so intensely, you are giving yourself permission to make mistakes. To forgo the endless tweaking and editing and just create. To build without tearing down.

As you spend November writing, you can draw comfort from the fact that, all around the world, other National Novel Writing Month participants are going through the same joys and sorrows of producing the Great Frantic Novel. Wrimos meet throughout the month to offer encouragement, commiseration, and—when the thing is done—the kind of raucous celebrations that tend to frighten animals and small children.

Now it's nearly November and I'm still working out my main characters and plot. I just wanted to check if anyone else is planning on doing this too. I'm signed up as gaby317 - feel free to email, chat, join my buddy list.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of Sanjay Gupta's Chasing Death: The Doctors and the Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds

Thank you so much to Anna and Hatchette Book Group for generously sponsoring this giveaway of 3 copies of Sanjay Gupta's newest book Cheating Death: The Doctors and the Medical Miracles that Are Saving Lives Against All Odds. Listen to an excerpt.


About the Book, courtesy of the Publisher:
An unborn baby with a fatal heart defect . . . a skier submerged for an hour in a frozen Norwegian lake . . . a comatose brain surgery patient whom doctors have declared a "vegetable."

Twenty years ago all of them would have been given up for dead, with no realistic hope for survival. But today, thanks to incredible new medical advances, each of these individuals is alive and well . . .Cheating Death.

In this riveting book, Dr. Sanjay Gupta-neurosurgeon, chief medical correspondent for CNN, and bestselling author-chronicles the almost unbelievable science that has made these seemingly miraculous recoveries possible. A bold new breed of doctors has achieved amazing rescues by refusing to accept that any life is irretrievably lost. Extended cardiac arrest, "brain death," not breathing for over an hour-all these conditions used to be considered inevitably fatal, but they no longer are. Today, revolutionary advances are blurring the traditional line between life and death in fascinating ways.

Drawing on real-life stories and using his unprecedented access to the latest medical research, Dr. Gupta dramatically presents exciting accounts of how pioneering physicians and researchers are altering our understanding of how the human body functions when it comes to survival-and why more and more patients who once would have died are now alive. From experiments with therapeutic hypothermia to save comatose stroke or heart attack victims to lifesaving operations in utero to the study of animal hibernation to help wounded soldiers on far-off battlefields, these remarkable case histories transform and enrich all our assumptions about the true nature of death and life.

About the Author, courtesy of the Publisher:

Sanjay Gupta, MD is a practicing neurosurgeon at Emory University Hospital and associate chief of service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He is a columnist for TIME magazine, Chief Medical Correspondent at CNN, a contributor to 60 Minutes and appears regularly on the CBS Nightly News with Katie Couric. Gupta is the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing Life.

Audio and Video

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please tell us why you'd like this book.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink by Dr. Jane Goodall

This is an amazing book. If you love animals, I am sure that you'll appreciate these stories that Dr. Jane Goodall shares. Listen to an excerpt of the Hope For Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink by Dr. Jane Goodall.

About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:
At a time when animal species are becoming extinct on every continent and we are confronted with bad news about the environment nearly every day, Jane Goodall, one of the world's most renowned scientists, brings us inspiring news about the future of the animal kingdom. With the insatiable curiosity and conversational prose that have made her a bestselling author, Goodall-along with Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard-shares fascinating survival stories about the American Crocodile, the California Condor, the Black-Footed Ferret, and more; all formerly endangered species and species once on the verge of extinction whose populations are now being regenerated.

Interweaving her own first-hand experiences in the field with the compelling research of premier scientists, Goodall illuminates the heroic efforts of dedicated environmentalists and the truly critical need to protect the habitats of these beloved species. At once a celebration of the animal kingdom and a passionate call to arms, Hope For Animals And Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink presents an uplifting, hopeful message for the future of animal-human coexistence.

About the Author, courtesy of the publisher:

Jane Goodall is the world's foremost authority on chimpanzees. An internationally renowned conservationist, she is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and has received many distinguished awards in science. Dr. Goodall is also the author of many acclaimed books, including the bestseller Reason for Hope. Learn more on Jane Goodall's website at http://janegoodallhopeforanimals.com/

Thane Maynard is the director of the Cincinnati Zoo.

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please visit Jane Goodall's website's What You Can Do Section and share something that you learned about a specific endangered animal.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of David Baldacci's True Blue

A huge thank you to Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this audio book giveaway of 3 copies of David Baldacci's latest work, True Blue!

About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:

A mysterious high-profile homicide in the nation's capital collides with the dark side of national security in David Baldacci's new, heart-stopping thriller.


TRUE BLUE
Mason "Mace" Perry was a firebrand cop on the D.C. police force until she was kidnapped and framed for a crime. She lost everything-her badge, her career, her freedom-and spent two years in prison. Now she's back on the outside and focused on one mission: to be a cop once more. Her only shot to be a true blue again is to solve a major case on her own, and prove she has the right to wear the uniform. But even with her police chief sister on her side, she has to work in the shadows: A vindictive U.S. attorney is looking for any reason to send Mace back behind bars.

Then Roy Kingman enters her life.


Roy is a young lawyer who aided the poor until he took a high-paying job at a law firm in Washington. Mace and Roy meet after he discovers the dead body of a female partner at the firm. As they investigate the death, they start uncovering surprising secrets from both the private and public world of the nation's capital.


Soon, what began as a fairly routine homicide takes a terrifying and unexpected turn-into something complex, diabolical, and possibly lethal.

About the Author, courtesy of his website:

David Baldacci was born in Virginia, in 1960, where he currently resides. He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Virginia Commonwealth University and a law degree from the University of Virginia. Mr. Baldacci practiced law for nine years in Washington, D.C., as both a trial and corporate attorney.

David Baldacci has published seventeen novels: Absolute Power, Total Control, The Winner, The Simple Truth, Saving Faith, Wish You Well, Last Man Standing, The Christmas Train, Split Second, Hour Game, The Camel Club, The Collectors, Simple Genius, Stone Cold, The Whole Truth, Divine Justice, and First Family; and in his young adult series, Freddy and the French Fries: Fries Alive! and Freddy and the French Fries: The Adventures of Silas Finklebean. He has also published a novella for the Dutch entitled Office Hours, written for Holland's Year 2000 "Month of the Thriller." Baldacci authored a short story, "The Mighty Johns," as part of a mystery anthology published in 2002.

His works have been in numerous worldwide magazines, newspapers, journals, and publications. Baldacci has authored seven original screenplays. His books have been translated into more than 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries. All of his books have been national and international bestsellers. Over 90 million copies of Mr. Baldacci's books are in print worldwide.

David Baldacci and his wife have founded the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy efforts across America. He invites you to visit him at www.david-baldacci.com and his foundation at www.wishyouwellfoundation.org, and to look into its program to spread books across America at www.FeedingBodyandMind.com.

Listen to an excerpt of True Blue.

Audio and Video

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please mention your favorite David Baldacci novel. Or if you haven't read one yet, tell us why you would like this book.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures

I have read all of Malcolm Gladwells books but none of his articles. When offered the chance to review What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, I jumped at it. I'm so excited to be able to offer a giveaway of 3 copies of Malcolm Gladwell's latest book, What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures. Thanks so much to Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring the giveaway!

About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:

Over the past decade, Malcolm Gladwell has become the most gifted and influential journalist in America. In The New Yorker, his writings are such must-reads that the magazine charges advertisers significantly more money for ads that run within his articles. With his #1 bestsellers, The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers, he has reached millions of readers. And now the very best and most famous of his New Yorker pieces are collected in a brilliant and provocative anthology. Among the pieces: his investigation into why there are so many different kinds of mustard but only one kind of ketchup; a surprising assessment of what makes for a safer automobile; a look at how we hire when we can't tell who's right for the job; an examination of machine built to predict hit movies; the reasons why homelessness might be easier to solve than manage; his famous profile of inventor and entrepreneur Ron Popeil; a look at why employers love personality tests; a dissection of Ivy League admissions and who gets in; the saga of the quest to invent the perfect cookie; and a look at hair dye and the hidden history of postwar America.

For the millions of Malcolm Gladwell fans, this anthology is like a greatest hits compilation-a mix tape from America's alpha mind.

About the Author:

Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for The New Yorker. He was formerly a business and science reporter at the Washington Post.

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please mention if you've ever read anything by Malcolm Gladwell and share something that you learned from one of his earlier books.


Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of Michael Connelly's Nine Dragons

Thanks to Anna and Hatchette Book Group, we have another generous audio book giveaway! This time it is for 3 copies of Michael Connelly's latest Harry Bosch novel, Nine Dragons. I throughly enjoyed this book. Curious? Check out my review of Nine Dragons.

About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:

LAPD Detective Harry Bosch is off the chain in the fastest, fiercest, and highest-stakes case of his life.

Fortune Liquors is a small shop in a tough South L.A. neighborhood, a store Bosch has known for years. The murder of John Li, the store's owner, hits Bosch hard, and he promises Li's family that he'll find the killer.

The world Bosch steps into next is unknown territory. He brings in a detective from the Asian Gang Unit for help with translation--not just of languages but also of the cultural norms and expectations that guided Li's life. He uncovers a link to a Hong Kong triad, a lethal and far-reaching crime ring that follows many immigrants to their new lives in the U.S.

And instantly his world explodes. The one good thing in Bosch's life, the person he holds most dear, is taken from him and Bosch travels to Hong Kong in an all-or-nothing bid to regain what he's lost. In a place known as Nine Dragons, as the city's Hungry Ghosts festival burns around him, Bosch puts aside everything he knows and risks everything he has in a desperate bid to outmatch the triad's ferocity.

About the Author, courtesy of his website:
After three years on the crime beat in L.A., Connelly began writing his first novel to feature LAPD Detective Hieronymus Bosch. The novel, The Black Echo, based in part on a true crime that had occurred in Los Angeles, was published in 1992 and won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by the Mystery Writers of America. Connelly followed up with three more Bosch books, The Black Ice, The Concrete Blonde, and The Last Coyote, before publishing The Poet in 1996—a thriller with a newspaper reporter as a protagonist. In 1997, he went back to Bosch with Trunk Music, and in 1998 another non-series thriller, Blood Work, was published. It was inspired in part by a friend's receiving a heart transplant and the attendant "survivor's guilt" the friend experienced, knowing that someone died in order that he have the chance to live. Connelly had been interested and fascinated by those same feelings as expressed by the survivors of the plane crash he wrote about years before. The movie adaptation of Blood Work was released in 2002, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Nine Dragons is Connelly's 15th Harry Bosch novel.

Enter Michael Connelly's contest: 9 Words About Nine Dragons. Learn more on Michael Connelly's website at http://www.michaelconnelly.com/Book_Collection/NineDragons/Contest/contest.html

CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please share your favorite fictional detective.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Hatchette Audio Book Giveaway of Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan

A huge thanks to Anna and Hatchette Book Group who are generously sponsoring this giveaway! Three lucky readers will win the audio book of Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan.

About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:

Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord.

In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa.

Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

About the Author, courtesy of the publisher:

Uwem Akpan was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria. After studying philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga universities, he studied theology for three years at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003 and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2006. "My Parents' Bedroom," a story from his short story collection, Say You're One of Them, was one of five short stories by African writers chosen as finalists for The Caine Prize for African Writing 2007.

Doesn't the book sound fascinating? Listen to an excerpt. Listen to an interview of Uwem Akpan.


CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, please recommend a nonfiction book that you've read recently.

Rules:
1. Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address, no entry.
2. For an extra entry, sign up to be a follower. If you're already a follower, let me know and you'll get the extra entry as well.
3. For another extra entry, subscribe via googlereader or blogger or by email and let me know that you do.
4. For another entry, blog about this giveaway and send me the link.
5. Leave a separate comment for each entry or you'll only be entered once.

The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 27, 2009. Thank you so much, Anna and Hatchette Book Group for sponsoring this giveaway!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Book Giveaway of The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton

Thanks to Valerie and Hatchette Book Group, we have a giveaway of 5 copies of The Bible Salesman by Clyde Edgerton.

About the Book, courtesy of the publisher:

Preston Clearwater has been a criminal since stealing two chain saws and 1,600 pairs of aviator sunglasses from the army during the Second World War. Back on the road in postwar North Carolina, now a member of a car-theft ring, he picks up hitchhiking Henry Dampier, an innocent twenty-year-old Bible salesman. Clearwater immediately recognizes Henry as smart but gullible, just the associate he needs--one who will believe Clearwater is working undercover for the F.B.I.; one who will drive the cars Clearwater steals as Clearwater follows along in his own car at a safe distance. Henry joyfully sees a chance to lead a dual life as a Bible salesman and a G-man.

During his hilarious and scary adventures, Henry grapples with doubts about the Bible's accuracy, and we learn of his fundamentalist upbringing, an upbringing that doesn't prepared him for his new life. As he falls in love with the captivating Marleen Green and questions his religious training, Henry begins to see he's being used--that he is on his own in a way he never imagined.

About the Author, courtesy of the publisher:

Clyde Edgerton is the author nine novels, a memoir, short stories, and essays. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow and five of his novels have been New York Times Notable Books. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and teaches creative writing at UNC Wilmington. He lives in Wilmington, NC, with his wife, Kristina, and their children. Learn more on Clyde Edgerton's website at http://www.clydeedgerton.com/index.html

Reading Group Guide, courtesy of the publisher:

1. Henry sells free Bibles he receives from Bible societies across the country, which he has requested under less-than-honest pretenses. Discuss how Henry reconciles his actions with his morality. Does he feel that his actions are acceptable? Do you?

2. From the moment Henry and Preston meet, Henry’s innocence contrasts with the older man’s manipulativeness. Discuss the relationship between these men. How does Henry’s naïveté ultimately allow him to upset Preston’s plans for him? In what ways are the two men similar?

3. Henry’s family is charitable (sending blankets to Yancy), but their church is sometimes harsh (warning the child Henry about being a blasphemer). How does Henry’s Uncle Jack help him navigate these contradictions?

4. How do the elderly, especially women, contribute to the comic scenes in The Bible Salesman? Does their unworldliness add to their being funny? Are they similar to Henry in this respect?

5. The Biblical characters of Abraham, his wife Sarah, and his mistress Hagar intrigue and puzzle Henry. Does his knowing their story make it easier for him to accept his attraction to Marleen Green?

6. Henry’s childhood is revealed over the course of The Bible Salesman, as are the numerous forces that shaped his Christianity—Aunt Dorie, the Bible salesman instructor, and Henry’s church, just to name a few. To what extent does each influence how he approaches his faith? How do his beliefs change over the course of the novel?

7. Although he initially views Henry as a gullible boy, Preston eventually realizes that he is not as clueless as he thought. How do you see Henry? Did your opinion change as you read? Why and in what ways?

8. Henry’s beloved Uncle Jack is ejected from a surfside club as “white trash.” Clearwater feels justified in burglarizing a plantation house owned by rich northerners in Florida. Does class conflict lead to the doctor’s death in Drain, Georgia? Or is Clearwater’s character the sole culprit?

9. In what ways does Henry mature from a child to an adult over the course of the novel? How is he still like a boy? What characters and events influence his growth? Do you think it is possible to maintain a positive outlook such as his in the face of the trials of adulthood?

10. Henry and Preston’s journey through the South is the focus of the novel, but they travel in other ways as well. How does movement, in both the physical and psychological sense, cause the characters to change? Do you think Henry would be the same man at the end of the novel had he not partnered with Preston?

11. Family reunions play a big part in Henry’s past. How does the extended family unify the disparate personalities and bloodlines in The Bible Salesman? Does it assuage the fact that Henry’s parents are absent and that his sister’s son looks nothing like his brother-in-law?

12. Did The Bible Salesman inspire you to compare parts of the Hebrew Bible to the King James Version and the Chicago Bible? If so, what differences in interpretations of the text did you find interesting?


CONTEST DETAILS

To enter, tell us your favorite book of the summer.

Rules:
Please include your email address, so that I can contact you if you win. No email address and answer, no entry. The contest is limited to US and Canada only. No P.O. boxes. The contest ends at noon on November 26, 2009.

Thanks so much, Valerie and Hatchette Book Group for this generous giveaway!

Book Blog Tour of Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me: The True Story of a Domesticated Princess by Lisa Fineberg Cook

Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me The blurb:
Six days after an InStyle-worthy wedding in Los Angeles, Lisa Fineberg Cook left behind her little red Jetta, her manicurist of ten years, and her very best friend for the land of the rising sun. When her husband accepted a job teaching English in Nagoya, Japan, she imagined exotic weekend getaways, fine sushi dinners, and sake sojourns with glamorous expat friends. Instead she's the only Jewish girl on public transportation, and everyone is staring. Lisa longs for regular mani/pedis, valet parking, and gimlets with her girlfriends, but for the next year she learns to cook, clean, commute, and shop like the Japanese, all the while adjusting to another foreign concept - marriage. Loneliness and frustration give way to new and unexpected friendships, the evolution of old ones, and a fresh understanding of what it means to feel different - until finally a world she never thought she'd fit into begins to feel home-like, if not exactly like home.

Review:
Funny and engaging, Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me: The True Story of a Domesticated Princess reads like a mix of chicklit, travelogue, and memoir. The book is arranged chronologically and into the six main areas of culture shock: Laundry, Cooking, Transportation, Shopping, Cleaning and Intermission.

Lisa Fineberg Cook doesn't pull any punches - she is as harsh towards herself as she is to her new acquaintances, which makes for an entertaining narrative. We learn of her frustration and isolation as she is constantly stared at, described as Meg Ryan, and is treated, albeit politely, as an outsider. As she learns to navigate the city of Nagoya and finds her own friends, we enjoy the moments of triumph as Lisa wins the respect and affection of those around her. As to be expected in books of this nature, Lisa becomes more of a sympathetic character as she learns to adjust to the world around her.

I thoroughly enjoyed Japan Took the J.A.P. Out of Me: The True Story of a Domesticated Princess. I recommend this book highly. It'll likely be particularly hilarious to people interested in Japan or those who have moved overseas or those who have had to adjust to a new environment (most of us!).

Publisher: Downtown Press; 1 edition (October 20, 2009), 288 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

About the Author, courtesy of Amazon:
Lisa Fineberg Cook, a self-described Jewish American Princess from L.A., leaps at the chance for an exciting adventure when her brand-new husband's brand-new job takes them to Japan a week after they're wed.

Thank you so much, Sarah and Pocket Books for this review opportunity!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Book Blog Tour of Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms by Jane Doiron

Make Ahead Meals for Busy MomsI'm excited to be part of the Book Blog Tour of Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms by Jane Doiron. Thank you to Tracee and Pump Up Your Book Promotion Tour for this review opportunity!

The blurb:

What if you could save valuable time, money and effort all while enjoying better meals with the whole family? Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms shows you how with a whopping 140 delicious feasts that are so easy, you'll never opt for take-out again!

The secret lies in Jane Doiron's recipes optimized for make-ahead preparation. You'll get special menus perfect for freezing, pre-assembling or quick reheating - so that you can plan your family's dinners when you're ready, not when you feel pressured and stressed.

Inside Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, discover:
  • Mouth-watering appetizers like crab melts, mini bacon quiche and sweet and spicy meatballs
  • Great-start breakfasts such as cranberry scones and make-ahead coffee cake
  • Filling mains, sides and soups including Italian restaurant chicken, pork Florentine, healthy broccoli slaw and hearty chili
  • Perfect desserts like tiramisu, mini cheesecakes and chocolate torte
  • Much, much more!
Review:
I found Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms full of easy to prepare and kid-friendly dishes. I tested the Chicken Stroganoff recipe which was easy to follow, tasty, and well received! The baking/dessert section is another rich resource with recipes for Coffee Cake with Apple Pie Filling, Cranberry Lemon Cake, Lemonade Cake, Cherry Bars and Tiramisu. I'd recommend this cook book to someone looking for straightforward and kid friendly recipes.

Publisher: Outskirts Press (August 17, 2009), 229 pages.
Review copy provided by Pump Up Your Book Promotion Tours and the author.

About the Author:
Jane Doiron is a busy mom of two boys who discovered the beauty of preparing meals in advance. Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Moms represents years of experience in recipe experimentation and acquired tips. Doiron is an elementary school teacher who lives in Massachusetts.

Thank you so much to Tracee and Pump Up Your Book Promotion Tours.

Book Blog Tour of Flesh and Fire: Book One of the Vineart Wars by Laura Anne Gilman

Thank you so much to Sarah and Pocket Books for including me in the Book Blog Tour of Flesh and Fire: Book One of the Vineart War by Laura Anne Gilman! This is my first taste of Laura Anne Gilman's writing and I am excited to share my thoughts about the book.
Flesh and Fire (The Vineart War, #1)
"Vinearts did not appear full-blown from the earth, after all. It was an ironic gift from Sin Washer: generations of trial and error had proven that only the deprivations of slavery, the removal of all family ties and comforts, pushed a man to the point where magic would surface. Even now, he could not coddle the boy, or risk ruining him. The skills were inherent and easily proven by the first test, but the refining of them required a combination of elements. . . Like the grapes themselves, a Vineart must be stressed to produce the finest results, grown in poor soils and subjected to the elements in order to shine."
-Flesh and Fire: Book One of the Vineart War by Laura Anne Gilman

Review:
In their early history, magic in the Vin Lands flowed through the prince-mages who alone had the power to craft spellwines. But inevitably corruption and greed led to an abuse of power by the prince-mages and it took the intervention of a demi-god to "break the Vine" and thus destroy the prince-mages' hold on power. The system that evolved 1,400 years later established a clear separation of power between those that craft the spells from wines and wield the power of magic (the "Vinearts") and the nobility and royalty that hold political power.

The split is deeply established. The Vinearts are entrenched in their customs and traditions in the selection, training and development of apprentice Vinearts and in the creation of the spellwines which serve as repositories of magic. It is universally understood that while stress and deprivation produce the magic and the Vineart, too much stress can ruin the man and his skills.

The Vine Lands are hit with mysterious disappearances, magical monsters, and sudden plagues which seem to be the work of a dangerous new force. Only Master Vineart Malech seems aware of this new threat and he has only one weapon to use against it: the young slave Jerzy. Jerzy shows unusual promise and an uncanny sense of the Vinearts' craft which Master Malech must develop and strengthen. Malech is forced to cram the training that would span years in months and trust in Jerzy's skill and judgment if they are to save the Vine Lands.

Review:
In Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman has created a rich, complex fantasy world and a satifying and enjoyable read. I was hooked from the start - with the mysterious attack on Vineart Sionio and the first descriptions of the young slave boy Jerzy.

Jerzy's voice is painfully honest and I quickly found myself emotionally invested in his growth and his success. As Jerzy grows into his role as apprentice to Vineart Malech, the tension in the story heightens. Plot twists and action move Flesh and Fire forward at a good pace. The only disappointment that I have is that I've finished the book and must wait for the next installment to learn how Jerzy and his new friends will rise to the challenge. I loved Flesh and Fire and recommend it highly to those who enjoy fantasy novels. This one is a winner!
Publisher: Pocket (October 13, 2009), 384 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

About the Author, courtesy of the author's website:

Born in the late 1960’s in suburban New Jersey, Laura Anne endured only moderate trauma – and some good times – before escaping to Skidmore College. After graduation, given the choice between grad school and employment, the lure of a paycheck took her to NYC and a career in publishing, while working nights and weekends to get her writing career started.

In 2004, she and corporate America decided they needed a break from each other. Her first original novel contract in-hand, Laura Anne became a full-time freelancer, and never looked back.
She is the author of the Cosa Nostradamus books for Luna (the “Retrievers” and “Paranormal Scene Investigations” series), a YA trilogy for HarperCollins, and the forthcoming Vineart War books from Pocket, while continuing to write and sell short fiction. She also writes paranormal romances for Nocturne as Anna Leonard.

Laura Anne is also an amateur chef, oenophile, and cat-servant. She lives in New York City, where she also runs d.y.m.k. productions. Learn more on Laura Anne Gilman's website at http://www.lauraannegilman.net/

Participating Sites:

All About {N}: http://www.bookwormygirl.blogspot.com/
Beth’s Book Review Blog: http://bethsbookreviewblog.blogspot.com/
Drey’s Library: http://dreyslibrary.blogspot.com/
Revenge of the Book Nerds: http://booknerdextraordinaire.blogspot.com/
The Neverending Shelf: http://neverendingshelf.blogspot.com/
Layers of Thought: http://www.layersofthought.net/
Fantasy Freak: http://fantastyfreak.blogspot.com/
Undercover Book Lover: http://www.eclecticbooklover.com/
Carol’s Notebook: http://carolsnotebook.wordpress.com/
Starting Fresh: http://startingfresh-gaby317.blogspot.com/
Pick of the Literate: http://bookrevues.blogspot.com/
My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com
Cheryl’s Book Nook: http://cherylsbooknook.blogspot.com/
Opinionated? Me?: http://readingwatchingliving.blogspot.com/
Readaholic: http://bridget3420.blogspot.com/
One Person’s Journey Through A World of Books: http://bookjourney.wordpress.com/
My Life In Not So Many Words: www.ziarias.blogspot.com
Geek Girl Reviews: www.geekgirlreviews.com
Sci-Fi Guy: www.scifiguy.ca
Wendy's Minding Spot: http://mindingspot.blogspot.com/
Found Not Lost: http://jmomfinds.amoores.com/
Brizmus Blogs Books: http://brizmusblogsbooks.blogspot.com/
25 Hour Books: http://25hourbooks.wordpress.com/
Temple Library Reviews: http://templelibraryreviews.blogspot.com/

Many thanks to Sarah and Pocket Books for this review opportunity!