Moving Day has finally arrived and I cannot take any of the credit. While I have been lying in bed ill, my designer has been very busy behind the scenes. I think everything looks wonderful. Am I missing anything in my new home? Any advise for a WP newbie? I do so hope all my readers feel comfortable here. I do not plan on moving again. There may be a few wrinkles to iron out, but that is to be expected. Welcome to Rundpinne’s new home.
Book Review: The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott
Friday 25 June, 2010 By 7 Comments
Title: The Evolution of Shadows
Author: Jason Quinn Malott
Publisher: Unbridled Books
Publication Date: October 30, 2009
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN: 978-1932961843
Genre: Fiction
In July of 1995, the news photographer Gray Banick disappeared into the Bosnian war zone and doing so took away pieces of the hearts of three people who loved him: Emil Todorović, his interpreter and friend; Jack MacKenzie, his mentor who taught Gray to hold his camera steady between himself and the worst that war presents; and Lian Zhao, who didn’t have the strength to love him as he wanted her to. Now, almost five years later, they have gathered in Sarajevo to find out what happened to Gray, the man who had taught them all what love is.
Each driven character in this novel believes fully that there is a love strong enough to sustain them, even in the extreme circumstances of war. But each time they have uncovered a glimpse of such a thing, they have failed tragically love itself.
Or, to see it another way, this is a novel about how love fails us every time—or almost every time.
My Review:
The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott takes the reader on an emotional ride as three of Gray Banick’s friends, a veteran photojournalist, a translator, and an ex-lover return to Gray Banick’s last known whereabouts in hopes of finding some evidence of what became of him. In 2000, Jack Mackenzie and Lian Zhao travel to war-torn Bosnia to meet up with Emil Todorović to search for their mutual friend, photojournalist Gray Banick who was last seen in July 1995 in the woods near Potocari, north of Srebrenica. As the three travel, the reader learns how each met Gray and about their respective relationships with him.
The Evolution of Shadows is told through various different voices, both past and present, clearly evoking vivid images and emotions that allow the reader to become close to each of the characters. Emil, Jack, and Lian are scarred in their own ways and have their own personal issues to face: Emil’s family was murdered and his fiancée was taken; Jack a veteran war journalist has turned to alcohol to help ease his pains, both physical and emotional; and Lian, now married to Daniel, cannot forget her love for Gray and the emotions that haunt her to this day. The Evolution of Shadows is a brilliantly orchestrated debut novel that once begun, cannot be set down.
Malott’s writing is close to brilliant as he describes both the past and present and the hope of the future. His description of the Bosnian War and the atrocities that occurred are clear, articulate and detailed in a manner that would suggest the author had been present, which to my knowledge he had not. Yet his writings took me back to years before the setting of his book, to a country of untold beauty and the stark reminder of what happened over a decade after I was there.
This novel is so well written and emotionally intense that one must remind oneself it is a work of fiction as The Evolution of Shadows reads a lot like a memoir. This hauntingly beautiful tribute to love, friendship and humanity will keep the reader engaged and mesmerised. Without reservation, I would recommend The Evolution of Shadows to any reader looking for an exceptional literary novel that will linger in memory long after the story has ended.
Jason Quinn Malott has been the publisher of the online literary journal The Project for a New Mythology. The Evolution of Shadows is his first novel.
For more information please visit the author’s website.
I received a complimentary copy of The Evolution of Shadows by Jason Quinn Malott from Unbridled Books. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.
Book Review: The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
Friday 25 June, 2010 By 6 Comments
Title: The Island
Author: Elin Hilderbrand
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Publication Date: July 6, 2010
Hardcover: 416 pages
ISBN: 978-0316043878
Genre: Fiction
and 1/2
Birdie Cousins has planned a getaway with her daughter Chess on rustic, charming Tuckernuck Island off the coast of Nantucket, a chance to bond before Chess’s upcoming marriage. Birdie’s been through a difficult divorce herself, so she knows the big commitment that marriage entails. She’s only recently dared to tiptoe back into the waters of romance.
When Chess abruptly breaks off the wedding and her fiancé shockingly dies in a rock climbing accident, it leaves Chess feeling guilty and deeply depressed. Birdie circles the wagons, convincing her younger daughter Tate, and her own sister India to join them on Tuckernuck for the month of July. Secrets and intrigue soon make their way to the surface, as Elin Hilderbrand once again weaves a masterful story of summer suspense.
My Review:
The Island by Elin Hildebrand is a month-long soap opera in written form, about four women, their secrets, desires, insecurities and hidden passions. Birdie is divorced and concentrating on her daughter’s upcoming wedding when she begins to date Hank, who happens to be married yet they both feel it is fine since his wife has Alzheimer’s and is in a special facility. Birdie’s sister India enjoys imbibing as well as a good joint, has a high opinion of herself and her three brilliant sons and believes her success is not a result of her famous husband’s suicide 15 years ago. As of late India has been posing for Lulu, an art student and a relationship is forming. Tate, Birdie’s youngest daughter is successful and while she acts quite arrogant, she is insecure and jealous of her older sister Chess. Chess, Birdies oldest daughter unexpectedly cancels her wedding because she is in love with her fiancé’s brother, she quit her job, moved home then learns Michael fell to his death while rock climbing in the Moab. Chess goes into a depression and the women decide it is time for a month-long vacation at their ancestral summer home, Tuckernuck off the island of Nantucket to give Chess some time to heal. Little do the other women realize just how badly they all need this vacation.
If it sounds as though I gave the entire story away, fret not, I merely skimmed the very tip of the novel and have saved all the best parts for the reader to discover. Hilderbrand alternates the narrative in the four voices of the women, opening a window into each woman’s point of view, in a manner that is easy to read and allows the reader to get to know each woman as individual. The women reveal to each other their secrets, dreams, and desires. The relationship the women have is one I cannot fathom and while the characters are richly and vividly described I truly did not relate to any of them. While I do not personally care for the term “chick-lit”, this is exactly the type of book that comes to mind when I hear the term. The Island is a quick paced novel that is never dull. If one is looking for a novel filled with drama, romance and female bonding, The Island may indeed be the perfect summer read.
Elin Hilderbrand lives on Nantucket with her husband and their three young children. She grew up in Collegeville, PA, and traveled extensively before settling on Nantucket, which has been the setting for her eight previous novels. Hilderbrand is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the graduate fiction workshop at the University of Iowa.
I received a complimentary copy of The Island by Elin Hilderbrand from Reagan Arthur. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Are You Getting Excited For The Move?
Thursday 24 June, 2010 By Leave a Comment
I know I am getting excited for my big move! As with all moves there have been some glitches and delays, but my wonderful designer is on the case and I may be transferred over this weekend. I will keep updating all my fabulous, faithful readers. I am so excited for the new home of Rundpinne. I hope all of you will be as pleased with it as I am. There are also some absolutely brilliant books on deck for me to review, it is great summer for reading.
Book Review and Book Tour: Short Circus by Stephen V. Masse
Thursday 24 June, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Title: Short Circus
Author: Stephen V. Masse
Publisher: Good Harbor Press
Publication Date: March 15, 2010
Hardcover: 184 pages
ISBN: 978-0615320571
Genre: Fiction, Ages 9-14
Twelve-year-old Jem Lockwood has been fatherless for four years and finally gets a Big Brother, but just as the best summer of his life is about to begin, he discovers that Jesse Standish’s rented house is about to be sold. Jem does all in his daring imagination to make Jesse’s house unmarketable, and the neighborhood unfit for prospective buyers. This three-ring circus romps with with Jem’s boyhood friends and older brother Chris, all recognizable kids who share in the rough-and-tumble delight of living in a northern Massachusetts city whose newspaper is delivered by kids on bikes, where kids play in the streets, and the local convenience store is owned by the family of Jesse’s girlfriend, Andrea. Sadly the city’s swimming pond has been sabotaged, and the city has to close it to all recreation after two boys are injured. Jem is sure he knows who did it, and helps carry out a plan to punish the evildoer.
My Review:
I first learned of Stephen V. Masse by reading his novel A Jolly Good Fellow, which was absolutely wonderful. I did not realise he wrote children’s books until Short Circus arrived. Short Circus by Stephen V. Masse is his second children’s novel and the jacket recommends the book for children ages 9-14. I quite honestly cannot say one way or the other how accurate the age range is, as I am not a children’s book reviewer, except for today. What I do know is that Short Circus is a delightful story told by Jem Lockwood, a spirited twelve year old who got into trouble with friends one too many times for his mother’s comfort, which prompts her to call Big Brothers to find an adult male figure to be a positive influence in Jem’s life. Jem is assigned to Jesse Standish and the bond of friendship is rather strong as they build their relationship, have outings and ponder the mystery of the pond. Life lessons are interspersed throughout the book in the adventures Jem, his friends, Jesse and Andrea have, making this an excellent book to read aloud to boys or for a child to read to himself. Short Circus is well written, with lessons placed throughout the novel, a tale of one unforgettable summer divided into short chapters and how Jesse changes Jem’s life and how Jem changes Jesse’s. I would recommend parents take a look at Short Circus if their child is interested in action and adventure as this book is wonderful.
Stephen V. Masse was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He wrote his first novelat age 13, handwritten into a school composition book.
Educated at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he studied creative writing, and was author of a weekly newspaper column, “Out of Control.” His first novel for children, Shadow Stealer, was published by Dillon Press in 1988. Short Circus is his second novel for children.
In addition to children’s books, Masse has written A Jolly Good Fellow, winner of the Silver Medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Awards, as well as honorable mention in the 2008 New England Book Festival for best books of the holiday season.
Stephen V. Masse’s SHORT CIRCUS VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR JUNE ‘10 officially began on June 1st and will end on June 25th. You can visit Stephen’s blog stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com during the month of June to find out more about this great book and talented author!
I received a complimentary copy of Short Circus by Stephen V. Masse from Pump Up Your Book Promotion as part of the tour. Receiving a copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.
Book Review: Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons
Wednesday 23 June, 2010 By 9 Comments
Title: Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English
Author: Natasha Solomons
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Publication Date: June 21, 2010
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0316077583
Genre: Fiction
At the outset of World War II, Jack Rosenblum, his wife Sadie, and their baby daughter escape Berlin, bound for London. They are greeted with a pamphlet instructing immigrants how to act like “the English.” Jack acquires Saville Row suits and a Jaguar. He buys his marmalade from Fortnum & Mason and learns to list the entire British monarchy back to 913 A.D. He never speaks German, apart from the occasional curse. But the one key item that would make him feel fully British -membership in a golf club-remains elusive. In post-war England, no golf club will admit a Rosenblum. Jack hatches a wild idea: he’ll build his own. It’s an obsession Sadie does not share, particularly when Jack relocates them to a thatched roof cottage in Dorset to embark on his project. She doesn’t want to forget who they are or where they come from. She wants to bake the cakes she used to serve to friends in the old country and reminisce. Now she’s stuck in an inhospitable landscape filled with unwelcoming people, watching their bank account shrink as Jack pursues his quixotic dream.In her tender, sweetly comic debut, Natasha Solomons tells the captivating love story of a couple making a new life-and their wildest dreams-come true.
My Review:
Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons is a charming, at times eccentric, and all around enduring book about Jack and Sadie Rosenblum and their daughter Elizabeth, German Jewish war refugees who emigrated to Dorset, England in 1937. Upon arrival they are given a pamphlet on how to assimilate into British society called “Helpful Information and Guidance for every Refugee”, a series of eight guidelines or rules to follow, a notion Sadie thinks silly while Jack takes rather seriously and over fifty years he continuously adds to his ever-growing list. Jack does everything he can to be seen as not a refugee, but rather an English Gentleman. As the years pass, his business thrives and Jack decides it is time to move up the social ladder and one rung he has not reached is to belong to a golf club and to become a true Dorset Englishman. It is this ultimate goal where Jack Rosenblum runs into difficulties and at times some unsavoury comments. Solomons does a masterful job at writing a beautifully descriptive book on England during the war years and the aftermath, the dress, style, and mannerisms. Her main characters are enduring and realistic, and her writing style is richly descriptive and enduring. The relationship between the Rosenblums is beautiful and dynamic even if their dreams are not entirely the same. I truly enjoyed reading Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English and would recommend this beautiful, witty, and deeply touching book to anyone looking for a sweet and enduring read. It was an added bonus to learn Natasha Solomons based this, her first book, on her grandparents’ lives.
Natasha Solomons is a 29-year-old screenwriter. She based this story on her own grandparents’ experience.
I received a complimentary copy of Mr. Rosenblum Dreams In English by Natasha Solomons from Reagan Arthur. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Book Review and Book Tour: Denial by Jessica Stern
Wednesday 23 June, 2010 By 8 Comments
Title: Denial: A Memoir of Terror
Author: Jessica Stern
Publisher: Ecco
Publication Date: June 22, 2010
Hardcover: 330 pages
ISBN: 978-0061626654
Genre: Memoir
I have been quiet, and I have listened all my life. But now, I will finally speak. Alone in an unlocked house in a safe neighbourhood in the suburban town of Concord, MA, two obedient, good girls, Jessica Stern, 15, and her sister, 14, were raped on the night of October 1, 1973. When they reported the crime, the police were skeptical. Their father, away on business, did not return for three more days. Following the example of her family, Stern – who lost her mother at the age of three – denied her pain and kept striving to achieve. But while her career took off, her success hinged on her symptoms. After her ordeal, she could not feel fear in normally frightening situations. Stern thought she’d disassociated from the trauma altogether, until a request took her back to that night more than 30 years earlier. The world-class social scientist and expert on terrorism and post-traumatic stress disorder began her own investigation, with the help of a devoted police lieutenant, to find the truth about her rapist, the town of Concord, her own family, and her own mind. The result is “Denial”, a candid and deeply intimate look at a life, a trauma, and its aftermath.
My Review:
Denial: A Memoir of Terror by Jessica Stern is a deeply personal, raw, and profound look at the effects trauma has on an individual, the lengths one’s brain will go to, to protect itself, and the damages stemming from denial. As my reader’s know, I am a fan of memoirs, it is one of my most favourite genres and I have read my fair share of memoirs and this is the first memoir that is so honestly fresh, raw and written in a flawed manner that one gets the impression the reader is personally hearing Jessica talk about her life.
In 1973 two sisters, 15-year-old Jessica and 14-year-old Sara were raped at gunpoint by an unknown assailant, the search for the rapist was dropped after 4 months. Each sister responded differently and Jessica believed it helped to make her focused and strong, skills that make her excel at her job investigating terrorists. Jessica learns many of her behaviours are most likely results of post-traumatic stress disorder, at the very least trauma. In 1996, Jessica was contacted by Lt. Macone to notify her he was reopening the case and could use her help if she was able. Stern writes about the process and her desire to interrogate her rapist, she wants to understand her rapist. In the process she learns the strong father she idolised was a terrorised child in Nazi Germany who has lived with his fears his whole life, even after escaping Germany.
The further she investigates the more she remembers and the more she learns about the processes of disassociation as well as how to begin to feel again. Denial is a work of love, healing, and tremendous strength and courage. Stern brings to the public what it is like first hand to be a victim and how one’s life can be forever changed. The writing is at times cold and detached as one may expect and it is through Stern’s honest account that her raw writing style makes Denial the most astonishingly profound memoir I have read to date. Without reservation I recommend Denial by Jessica Stern to any adult reader.
Jessica Stern is a Lecturer in Public Policy and a faculty affiliate of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. From 1994–95, she served as Director for Russian, Ukrainian, and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council, where she was responsible for national security policy toward Russia and the former Soviet states and for policies to reduce the threat of nuclear smuggling and terrorism. From 1998–99, she was the superterrorism Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and from 1995–96, she was a national Fellow at Hoover Institution at Stanford University. She also worked at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Stern received a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College in chemistry, a master of science degree from MIT, and a doctorate in public policy from Harvard. She is the author of the New York Times Notable Book Terror in the Name of God and The Ultimate Terrorists, as well as numerous articles on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
To learn more please visit Jessica’s website.
For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.
I received a complimentary copy of Denial by Jessica Stern from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Book Review: Day For Night by Frederick Reiken
Tuesday 22 June, 2010 By 4 Comments
Title: Day For Night
Author: Frederick Reiken
Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books
Publication Date: April 26, 2010
Hardcover: 336 pages
ISBN: 9780316036115
Genre: Fiction
“If you look hard enough into the history of anything, you will discover things that seem to be connected but are not.” So claims a character in Frederick Reiken’s wonderful, surprising novel, which seems in fact to be determined to prove just the opposite. How else to explain the threads that link a middle-aged woman on vacation in Florida with a rock and roll singer visiting her comatose brother in Utah, where he’s been transported after a motorcycle injury in Israel, where he works with a man whose long-lost mother, in a retirement community in New Jersey, recognizes him in a televised report about an Israeli-Palestinian skirmish? And that’s not the half of it.
My Review:
There are books to make the reader think and then books that make the reader want to think and Day For Night by Frederick Reiken does not disappoint the intellectual reader. Day For Night is not a light read, and despite the length of the book, Reiken has written a book to make the reader stop, pause, reflect and continue on. Day For Night shows just how interconnected we are with people we deem strangers. How a middle-aged woman, in this case Katherine, sitting in the same row on an airplane as Gwen and Tim and neither know this woman nor realise she knows Gwen’s family and indeed her brother Dillon. This novel of seeming random accounts of different people are all interconnected and Day For Night continues on in this manner with shorter stories that one must pay close attention to, in order to learn just how interconnected the characters are, in this case, characters stemming from event before and during World War II. Day For Night is a book that will, if the reader allows, have a profound impact on the reader. I have a suspicion as I mature and experience more in my life that I will learn something different from this book than I have today as a 41 year-old. I am uncertain how much depth I would have found on my own when I was in college, but it would be interesting to keep track of thoughts of this book over five to ten years. Day For Night by Frederick Reiken is a complex work of literary brilliance and I would not hesitate to recommend his novel to all readers, yet I do believe one will learn more with age. I think this would be a phenomenal book to discuss with a multi-generational book group.
Frederick Reiken is the author of two previous novels, The Odd Sea (1998) and The Lost Legends of New Jersey (2000). His short stories have appeared in The New Yorker and his essays in the anthology Living on the Edge of the World (2008). He has worked as a reporter and columnist and is currently a member of the writing faculty at Emerson College.
I received a complimentary copy of Day For Night by Frederick Reiken from Reagan Arthur. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Book Review: Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives by Josi Brown
Tuesday 22 June, 2010 By 7 Comments
Title: Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives
Author: Josie Brown
Publisher: Downtown Press
Publication Date: June 1, 2010
Paperback: 331 pages
ISBN: 978-1439173176
Genre: Fiction, Romance
Suburbia is a jungle, filled with lots of vicious creatures.
Take the Paradise Heights Women’s League board. Lyssa Harper should have warned golden-haired DILF du jour Harry Wilder what he was getting into when she invited him to meet the mommies who run their suburban, gated community. At least he brought cupcakes. Since meeting the former Master-of-the-Universe turned stay-at-home single dad, Lyssa has been his domestic Sherpa, teaching him the ins and outs of suburban life. She just didn’t realize her friends would show up at his house unannounced with casseroles, leopard-print bikini briefs, and plans to rearrange his kitchen cabinets.
The truth is, if Harry and his wife, the neighborhood’s “perfect couple,” can call it quits, what does that mean for everyone else? Lyssa’s husband, Ted, is a great father, but he pays her Pilates-pumped momtourage more attention than he does his own wife. Her friends gossip about the neighbors while ignoring their own problems: infertility, infidelity, and eating disorders.
When Harry sets boundaries with his new fan club, he is exiled from the neighborhood’s in-clique. But Lyssa refuses to snub him. What she never expects is the explosive impact her ongoing friendship with Harry will have on her close-knit pals—and on her marriage.
My Review:
I was not planning to write a review for the book Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives by Josie Brown but decided I should at the very least mention why I rated this popular book as I did. The story moves along blessedly quickly but I really was not interested in the characters’ lives, the cattiness, jealousy and rivalry amongst adults. At times the novel is quite witty and does indeed have some valuable lessons to be gleamed, but all in all it was not my style of writing, hence my rating. However, for those who are Desperate House Wife fans, enjoy melodramas, and the behind-the-scenes lives of husbands and wives living in suburbia, then I highly suggest giving Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives by Josie Brown a chance. Please check out other reviews before making a decision as I have read almost all glowing reviews of this book. Just because it was not my style does not mean others will not find this a delightful summer read.
Josie Brown’s celebrity interviews and relationship articles have been featured in Redbook and Complete Woman magazines, as well as AOL, Yahoo, AskMen.com, Divorce360.com, and SingleMindedWomen.com. She lives in Marin County, California with her husband and two children.
I received a complimentary copy of Secret Lives of Husbands and Wives by Josie Brown from Simon & Schuster to review. Receiving a free copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.
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