2011 August 30

Book Review: Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant

Tuesday 30 August, 2011 by knittingmomof3 11 Comments

Title: Wherever You Go
Author: Joan Leegant
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition
Publication Date: July 25, 2011
Paperback: 253 pages
ISBN: 978-0393339895
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the back of the book:

In this sweeping and beautifully written novel, Joan Leegant weaves together three lives caught in the grip of a volatile and uncompromising faith. Yona Stern has traveled to Jerusalem from New York to make amends with her sister, a stoic mother of five dedicated to the hard-line West Bank settlement cause. Mark Greenglass, a gifted Talmud teacher and a former drug dealer saved by religion, has lost his passion and wonders if he’s done with God. Enter Aaron Blinder, an unstable college dropout with a history of failure who finds a home on the radical fringe of Israeli society. Emotionally gripping, timely and prophetic, Wherever You Go tells the story of three Americans in Israel and the attractions-and dangers-of Jewish religious and political extremism.

My Review:

Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant is a beautifully uplifting debut novel about three Americans, living in Israel, who struggle for religious and political identity. In times where religious and political extremism are becoming increasingly a concern for many, Leegant touches on this subject in a delicate, yet true to life manner that will give readers more than just a glimpse at the draw of extremist views. As the three main characters, Yona, Aaron and Mark each has their individual motivations for coming to Israel, Leegant capitalizes on these unrelated characters to build her story into a message far greater than the sum of the characters’ reasons for their actions. A book about spirituality in a rigid faith, Leegant portrays the challenges and obstacles faced by these characters as they are brought together through a tragic event. Told with changing perspectives, Wherever You Go gives different points of view as the story unfolds, a writing style that I think really worked well for such a weighty and personal subject. I strongly recommend Joan Leegant’s debut, Wherever You Go to all readers and I think book discussion groups will find Wherever You Go a fascinating book to examine.

To learn more about author Joan Leegant, please visit her website: www.joanleegant.com

For more reviews of the book, please follow the TLC Book Tour.

I received a complimentary arc of Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant 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.

Filed Under: Book Review, Book Tour Tagged With: Historical Fiction, Israel, TLC Book Tours, W.W. Norton & Company

Book Review: Snapped by Laura Griffin

Tuesday 30 August, 2011 by knittingmomof3 6 Comments

Title: Snapped
Author: Laura Griffin
Publisher: Pocket Star
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Paperback: 432 pages
ISBN: 978-1451617368
Genre: Romance Mystery, Suspense

From the Publisher:

SOPHIE BARRETT THINKS SHE’S LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. SHE MAY BE DEAD WRONG.

On a sweltering summer afternoon, Sophie Barrett walks into a nightmare. A sniper has opened fire on a college campus. When the carnage is over, three people—plus the shooter—are dead and dozens more are injured. Sophie escapes virtually unscathed. Yet as details emerge from the investigation, she becomes convinced that this wasn’t the random, senseless act it appeared to be. No one wants to believe her—not the cops, not her colleagues at the Delphi Center crime lab, and definitely not Jonah Macon, the homicide detective who’s already saved her life once.

Jonah has all kinds of reasons for hoping Sophie is mistaken. Involving himself with a key witness could derail an already messy investigation, not to mention jeopardize his career. But Sophie is as determined and fearless as she is sexy. If he can’t resist her, he can at least swear to protect her. Because if Sophie is right, she’s made herself the target of a killer without a conscience. And the real terror is only just beginning. . . .

My Review:

Snapped by Laura Griffin is a brilliant suspense novel about a highly specialized forensics team. Griffin has successfully written a series of tantalizing stories based on a group referred to as Tracers, a specialized and eclectic group of Forensic experts. Snapped, Griffin’s fourth in this series, reads as a stand alone novel, but I highly recommend her previous three as they are equally suspenseful and intriguing. Inspired by the true events of the University of Texas at Austin shooting in 1966, events witnessed by Griffin’s mother, Snapped will hold the attention of its readers until the last page as a college campus sniper kills three but Sophie Barrett, who avoids injury, begins to see the shootings as something beyond an impulsive act of violence. As Jonah Macon becomes involved in the investigation, and with Sophie, will Jonah be able to objectively carry out his investigation? Held in suspense through much of the story, readers will be compelled to keep reading as the plot unfolds with its many twists and turns. I highly recommend Snapped to those readers looking for an excellent suspense thriller mixed with romance as Griffin’s fourth in the Tracer series will provide both of these.

To learn more about author Laura Griffin and her books, please visit her website: www.lauragriffin.com

I received a complimentary arc of Snapped by Laura Griffin from Gallery Books Publicity to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

Filed Under: Book Review Tagged With: Fiction, Gallery Books, Pocket Books, Simon and Schuster, Supsense

Teaser Tuesdays – Creep by Jennifer Hillier

Tuesday 30 August, 2011 by knittingmomof3 67 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!