2010 November 09

Book Tour: Regression by Kathy Bell

Title: Regression
Author: Kathy Bell
Publisher: Northern Sanctum
Publication Date: June 2, 2009
Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN: 978-0981289601
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy

Book Synopsis:

Fourteen-year-old Adya Jordan swears that before her head injury she was a forty-year-old mother of six. Is she going crazy, or did she really live through an entirely different life? 1985 is nothing like she remembers, although her first day of high school certainly is! A typical girl with atypical genes, Adya tries to recapture her old life, hiding her growing conviction that she has done this before. Memories of the man she loved and a family she adored haunt her, even though her future husband doesn’t even know she exists. Accidentally discovering the secretive Three Eleven Corporation might know more about her situation than she does, she is convinced the twenty-eight men heading up the company are responsible for the changes in her world. Adya finds her way into their ranks, journeying to the tropical island headquarters to begin an orientation into their prestigious internship program. The Three Eleven Company controls the development and distribution of Twenty-first Century technology brought with them from the future. Charged with the task of preparing the world for an impending disaster, each member of the team uses his scientific background to create a solution for a problem the planet does not know it is facing. They don’t have time to deal with a feisty young girl poking around. Banished to the frozen Canadian Shield for asking too many questions of CEO Abraham Fairfield, Adya finds the men in the underground city of Sanctum are interested in more than just her genes as they search for the answer to her presence in the timeline. In the end, Adya encounters a choice no mother should ever face: save her children…or everyone else.

My Review (that is not a review): When I heard about Regression by Kathy Bell, I thought the book sounded rather intriguing and it quite possibly is for those who enjoy science fiction. I do not review science fiction novels for a reason; I do not care for the genre. I honestly had no clue it was a science fiction novel, so I am not going to be rating this novel nor will I be offering an opinion. I simply wanted to state I truly did not realize just how sci-fi the book would be. The synopsis above does a superb job at describing the book and I also recommend checking out the other reviews on this tour as well as the author’s sites. I have included all links below.

About the Author:

Canadian author Kathy Bell has called the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron area home for her entire life but has found books a wonderful way to travel through time and around the world. She lives on 60 acres with an amazing view of the Owen Sound city skyline in one direction and the sheer cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment in the other. Writing only became possible after checking off most other things on the to-do list of her life: marry high school sweetheart (check); get an awesome career as a high school science teacher (check); have four wonderful kids (check); build her dream home (check); be a successful entrepreneur (check); breed Canada’s top winning bulldog (check); get a herd of horses (check). With all of these activities providing fodder for her fertile imagination, she began writing with one hand cradling a fussy baby while the other pecked at the keyboard.

Her first novel, Regression, peaked at number seventeen on the Amazon Science Fiction and Fantasy bestseller list as a new release, and remained on the charts for twenty-eight days.

Find out more about Kathy and her Infinion Series at infinionseries.comor at northernsanctum.com.

Kathy Bell’s REGRESSION VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘10 officially began on October 11 and ends in November ‘10. You can visit Kathy’s blog stops here during the months of October and November to find out more about this great book and talented author!

I received a complimentary copy of Regression by Kathy Bell 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: Lost Lustre by Josh Karlen

Title: Lost Lustre: A New York Memoir
Author: Josh Karlen
Publisher: Tatra Press
Publication Date: October 16, 2010
Paperback: 250 pages
ISBN: 978-0981932118
Genre: Non-fiction, Memoir

From the Publisher:

Muggings on Avenue C, punk bands at CBGB, parties in a nascent SoHo, dropping out from the famous Music & Art High School. In this episodic, coming-of-age memoir, Josh Karlen chronicles growing up in New York’s Greenwich Village and crime-ridden Alphabet City in the 70s and early 80s. Lost Lustre recaptures a New York suffering its gravest financial crisis and soaring crime, yet staging a spectacular resurgence of the arts. Karlen shares a fascinating personal history of the punk rock scene through the prism of The Lustres, a band that played venues that launched the Talking Heads, Patti Smith and the Ramones. In the title chapter, Karlen poignantly pays homage to the band’s charismatic and talented lead singer, whose life in many ways seemed to mirror his times in both its shining creativity and nihilistically destructive force.

My Review:

Lost Lustre: A New York Memoir by Josh Karlen is an extensive memoir into the changing arts scene throughout the decades. While I enjoy history and memoirs I get a bit lost when it comes to music. Karlen managed to capture my interest and I found the historical aspects of Lost Lustre to be rather insightful and it offers an intriguing look into the changing times of the New York cultural scene. Karlen is a gifted writer and easily takes the reader back in time to various movements in the 60s, his tone is one of a friend having a conversation over coffee, lending to a familiarity about the book without being overly casual. Karlen vividly describes what it was like growing up on the lower east side of Manhattan, when it was not an overly glamorous place to be. Karlen takes the reader through the 60s and 70s and takes a look back over those turbulent times as he grew up in those eras. While Lost Lustre was not a memoir that I was enthralled with, I think it may intrigue those readers who are fascinated with the history of New York and those intrigued my the changing music scenes through the decades.

About the Author:

Josh Karlen, a former journalist, grew up on the Lower East Side and in the Village. He lives with his wife and two children in Manhattan. He currently works in media relations.

For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.

I received a complimentary copy of Lost Lustre by Josh Karlen 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.