Saying Goodbye… For Now

Tuesday 6 September, 2011 By 81 Comments

It is with a sad heart that I must say goodbye to book reviewing and blogging for the foreseeable future.

I have deeply enjoyed reviewing and being able to meet so many wonderful people along the way.  Unfortunately, due to medical reasons, I will not be able to review or blog for the time being. I do not know when I will be able to resume blogging and shall miss all of you.  With luck, I will not be absent from the reviewing/blogging world long. My blog will remain up and I shall return to blogging as soon as I am physical able.

It has been my pleasure to learn so very much from each and everyone I have had the pleasure to meet throughout my time here.  On the upside, it looks as though I shall finally be giving audio books a try and who knows, I may just become a convert, anything is possible.

Until I return, happy reading. :)

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Book Review: The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas

Tuesday 6 September, 2011 By 2 Comments

Title: The Oracle of Stamboul
Author: Michael David Lukas
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Reprint edition
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN: 978-0062012104
Genre: Historical Fiction

From the Publisher:

Ushered into the world by a mysterious pair of Tartar midwives late in the summer of 1877 in the town of Constanta on the Black Sea, Eleonora Cohen proves herself an extraordinarily gifted child—a prodigy—at a very young age. When she is eight years old, she stows away aboard a ship, following her carpet merchant father, Yakob, to the teeming and colorful imperial capital of Stamboul where a new life awaits her.

In the narrow streets of this city at the crossroads of the world, intrigue and gossip are currency, and people are not always what they seem. But it is only when she charms the eccentric Sultan Abdulhamid II—beleaguered by friend and foe as his unwieldy realm crumbles—that Eleonora will change the course of an empire.

My Review:

Exotic, mystical, and engrossing, The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas takes the reader back to the last days of the Ottoman Empire and deep into Sultan Abdulhamid’s court. Purple and white hoopoes usher in the birth of Eleonora Cohen whose birth and life was foretold. Raised by her father and Aunt, young Eleonora is quite precocious and instead of being without her father she travels to Stamboul as a stowaway to be with him. Eleonora’s gifts are soon recognized by the Sultan, who invites her to court, relies on her knowledge and soon becomes interested in far more than her political acumen. Lukas has created a beautifully exotic debut novel that will take the reader back in time to the seat of the Ottoman Empire. Through vivid imagery and detail the reader will have little doubt they are in Turkey. The sights, sounds, and smells are so richly described it made me yearn to travel. Lukas has created a marvelous ensemble of characters and Eleonora is absolutely endearing, delightful, and mysterious. The Oracle of Stamboul was utterly fascinating in its exotic nature and mystical premise, and stunningly lyrical prose. Lukas has created a stunning debut novel and definitely is an emerging author to be watched. I highly recommend The Oracle of Stamboul to both readers and book discussion groups.

To learn more about Michael David Lukas please visit his website: www.michaeldavidlukas.com

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

I received a complimentary copy of The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas 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.

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Book Review: Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye

Tuesday 6 September, 2011 By 2 Comments


Title: Safe From the Sea
Author: Peter Geye
Publisher: Unbridled Books
Publication Date: September 6, 2011
Paperback: 256 pages
ISBN: 978-1609530570
Genre: Literary Fiction

From the Publisher:

Set against the powerful lakeshore landscape of northern Minnesota, Safe from the Sea is a heartfelt novel in which a son returns home to reconnect with his estranged and dying father thirty-five years after the tragic wreck of a Great Lakes ore boat that the father only partially survived and that has divided them emotionally ever since. When his father for the first time finally tells the story of the horrific disaster he has carried with him so long, it leads the two men to reconsider each other.

Meanwhile, Noah’s own struggle to make a life with an absent father has found its real reward in his relationship with his sagacious wife, Natalie, whose complications with infertility issues have marked her husband’s life in ways he only fully realizes as the reconciliation with his father takes shape.

Peter Geye has delivered an archetypal story of a father and son, of the tug and pull of family bonds, of Norwegian immigrant culture, of dramatic shipwrecks and the business and adventure of Great Lakes shipping in a setting that simply casts a spell over the characters as well as the reader.

My Review:

An astonishingly moving debut novel, Safe from the Sea by Peter Geye explores the relationship between father and son. Geye describes Lake Superior as well as the surrounding areas in astonishingly beautiful and vivid detail. Geye writes of Norwegian immigrant Olaf Torr, one of only a few survivors of the sinking of the Ragnarok, an iron ore boat off the shores of Lake Superior. This event was a catalyst forever altering the lives of Olaf and his children Solveig and Noah. As Noah heads to the cabin where his estranged father is dying, he worries about the past as well as the present and future with his wife Natalie. Safe From the Sea, while a relatively short book, is rich in deep issues, giving the reader pause to contemplate each decision, indecision and the ramifications of action or inaction. Covering some very intense topics, Geye guides the reader through serene Northern Minnesota, taking me back to my childhood summers spent there. Safe from the Sea is filled with intense emotions and these are often described through scenes and descriptions. Sometimes there just are no words to adequately suffice, other times, especially with Noah, his short clipped statements speak volumes. Hailing from Minnesota, I do not know of many older than myself who do not speak in the manner of Olaf, so it was a comfort to me and brought me back home. Time flew by as I read Geye’s debut novel and I believe he is definitely an author to be watching for more great works. I highly recommend Safe from the Sea to all readers.

About the Author:

Peter Geye received his MFA from the University of New Orleans and his PHD from Western Michigan University, where he was editor of Third Coast. He was born and raised in Minneapolis and continues to live there with his wife and three children. This is his first novel.

I received a complimentary copy of Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye from Unbridled Books. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt by Ron Douglas

Tuesday 6 September, 2011 By 4 Comments

Title: America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt: Cut the Calories, Keep the Taste of Your Favorite Restaurant Dishes
Author: Ron Douglas
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: September 6, 2011
Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN: 978-1451623314
Genre: Cookbook

From the back of the book:

From the New York Times bestselling author of America’s Most Wanted Recipes comes more copycat recipes from your family’s favorite restaurants–with fewer calories!

Ron Douglas has wowed home cooks across the country by uncovering the best recipes from hundreds of popular restaurants, including Applebee’s, California Pizza Kitchen, Chili’s, Olive Garden, P.F. Chang’s, and T.G.I. Friday’s. America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt once again features delicious restaurant meals that can be enjoyed at home. But with the help of registered dietician and nutrition expert Mary M. Franz, Ron has created more than 150 amazing reduced-calorie versions. Take Bahama Breeze’s Jamaican Jerk Grilled Chicken, which usually contains approximately 960 calories. By using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, the entire family can enjoy generous, flavorful half-pound servings and save 590 calories. Or how about Dave and Buster’s Steak Fajita Salad? A restaurant portion contains a whopping 1,408 calories per serving, but Ron’s home-cooked version has 489. And for dessert? Macaroni Grill’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cake has 635 calories per slice. Home cooks can easily trim that calorie count down to 435. Ron will show you how! Each recipe includes nutritional details, the number of calories you will save, and easy tips on how to prepare your favorite restaurant food without feeling the guilt. The book also features a section on restaurant alternatives, as well as a nutritional guide detailing the overall dos and don’ts when it comes to healthy eating. Experience the pleasure and satisfaction of cooking fun, delicious food for your family while also keeping them fit! Watch your wallet get fat and your tummy get flat!

My Review:

If you are a fan of Applebee’s, Hard Rock Café or Olive Garden, fasten your seat belt, for America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt by Ron Douglas has many lower kilocalorie, lower fat alternatives to these and many other popular restaurants’ menu items.  It was very helpful to have the caloric and other nutritional information for each recipe and comparative information from the specific restaurant as figuring out recipe calories can be a bit time-consuming.  A couple of things that could have been done differently with the nutrition data however is to include sodium content and to round to whole numbers the grams of fat, protein, etc. as these figures are certainly not known to 10 mg precision and even if they were, it would not be significant for anyone to track.  Douglas supplements his recipes with a Health and Nutrition Guide that offers a level view of eating a balanced diet and does not promote any controversial or fad-type approaches to healthy eating and/or weight loss.  While this section is helpful, what I would have like to see was some listing of authoritative references for readers to further their knowledge in some of the areas of nutritional research.  In short, for anyone looking for good copycat recipes that significantly cut the kilocalories per serving, I recommend America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt.

I received a complimentary copy of America’s Most Wanted Recipes Without the Guilt by Ron Douglas from Atria. to offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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Book Review: Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell

Monday 5 September, 2011 By 2 Comments

Title: Claim of Innocence
Author: Laura Caldwell
Publisher: Mira
Publication Date: August 23, 2011
Paperback: 448 pages
ISBN: 978-0778329329
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Book Synopsis:

It was a crime of passion—or so the police say. Valerie Solara has been charged with poisoning her best friend. The prosecution claims she’s always been secretly attracted to Amanda’s husband…and with Amanda gone, she planned to make her move.

Attorney Izzy McNeil left the legal world a year ago, but a friend’s request pulls her into the murder trial. Izzy knows how passion can turn your life upside down. She thought she had it once with her ex-fiancé, Sam. Now she wonders if that’s all she has in common with her criminally gorgeous younger boyfriend, Theo.

It’s Izzy’s job to present the facts that will exonerate her client—whether or not she’s innocent. But when she suspects Valerie is hiding something, she begins investigating—and uncovers a web of secret passions and dark motives, where seemingly innocent relationships can prove poisonous….

My Review:

Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell is a fast-paced legal thriller about a woman accused of murdering her best friend, and about her defense attorney, Izzy McNeil, who is trying her first criminal case after a leave from her exclusively civil litigations.  Readers are introduced to Valerie Solara, who has been accused of poisoning her best friend, Amanda, whose husband Valerie has been longing for. Mixed in with Izzy’s own personal romantic urges, the interpersonal issues makes for a complicated plot that at times loses focus on the legal case at hand.  As readers follow the case for the defense of Valerie, they will find that not is all as it seemed at first to Izzy, and as she builds her case for her client, the suspense is turned up several notches and suspense fans will delight in the discoveries that await Izzy.  One of my personal dislikes of this novel was the romance, which I found to be a distraction from what would otherwise be a taut mystery thriller.  Being part of the Izzy McNeil series, which I have not read, may be part of the reason for my opinions, for I felt at times that knowing a little more about Izzy, especially when allusions to other works were made, would have helped.  With that said, I would recommend Claim of Innocence to those who enjoy a good legal thriller with romance thrown in for good measure.

To learn more about author Laura Caldwell, please visit her website: www.lauracaldwell.com

I received a complimentary copy of Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell from Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc. to offer my honest review of the book.  Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Sunday 4 September, 2011 By 51 Comments

It’s Monday What Are you Reading is the perfect way for me to begin my week and allows me to focus on what needs to be read and to see what I have or have not accomplished the previous week. I also enjoy discovering new books by visiting other participants blogs.

I Read and Reviewed (click the title to be taken to the review):

This week I am planning to read/review:

  • Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell
  • Safe From the Sea by Peter Geye
  • Incognito by Gregory Murphy
  • Darkness, My Old Friend by Lisa Unger
  • The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas
  • The Legacy by Katherine Webb
  • America’s Most Wanted Recipes by Ron Douglas
  • Crossbones by Nuruddin Farah
Visit next Monday to see if I managed to accomplish my reading goals.
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The Sunday Salon (TSS: 9/4/2011)

Sunday 4 September, 2011 By 8 Comments
The Sunday Salon.com

Life:  It is already September and the temperature has yet to cool off.  I am anticipating the arrival of autumn, for soon it means my favourite season-winter-will be here.  I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Labor Day weekend.

Family Update: I am keeping this short and sweet as my son will be home for the weekend and I am busy scheduling posts so as not to be online while my son is home.  This past week was terrible for me as far as my pain level was concerned, but my family is healthy and that is what matters.

Saturday Night: As I mentioned my oldest will be home for the weekend.  I do not know what he has planned for us as a family, but I can make an educated guess that it will involve takeaway and movie night. :)

Read and Reviewed: This past week I read  8 books and reviewed 7 of them. If you have time, please take a look at my reviews, I have a diverse selection of books.

Today I will be reading:   Absolutely nothing.  My son is home from University and the day is all his.

Happy Reading and have a wonderful Sunday.
Visit the The Sunday Salon.
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Book Review: Creep by Jennifer Hillier

Saturday 3 September, 2011 By 6 Comments

Title: Creep
Author: Jennifer Hillier
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: July 5, 2011
Hardcover: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-1451625844
Genre: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

From the Publisher:

If he can’t have her . . . Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away

. . . . no one else can.

Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancÉ discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

My Review:

Creep by Jennifer Hillier is an intense debut suspense thriller that will keep even the most reluctant reader entranced until the very end.  Readers are thrown into the deep end as Hillier wastes no time in developing the plot straightaway on page one.  Hillier crafts an excellent and most creepy scenario as the basis for this story involving a college professor, Dr. Sheila Tao and her not-so-willing-to-let-things-go teaching assistant, Ethan.  Hillier introduces readers to Sheila and Ethan while Sheila is revealing to him that she was just engaged and that their own taboo affair would have to end.  With Ethan not seeing why their affair must end, the intensity escalates and threats of blackmail ensue.  And this is all in the first chapter.  Readers will not be disappointed by the early and rapid developments as Hillier maintains the plot progression at an astounding pace.  In this psychological thriller, Hillier has made her first mark in the suspense genre an extraordinarily memorable one.  I highly recommend Creep to adults interested in a fast-paced thrill ride for their next read.

To learn more about author Jennifer Hillier, please visit her website: www.jenniferhillier.org

I received a complimentary copy of Creep by Jennifer Hillier from Gallery Books Publicity to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: Calling Mr. King by Ronald De Feo

Friday 2 September, 2011 By 2 Comments

Title: Calling Mr. King
Author: Ronald De Feo
Publisher: Other Press
Publication Date: August 30, 2011
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN: 978-1590514757
Genre: Fiction, Thriller


From the Publisher:

Long considered cool, distant, and absolutely reliable, an American-born hit man, working throughout Europe, grows increasingly distracted and begins to develop an unexpected passion for architecture and art while engaged in his deadly profession. Although he welcomes this energizing break from his routine, he comes to realize that it is an unwise trajectory for a man in his business, particularly when he is sent on the most difficult job of his career.
Set in London, Paris, New York, and Barcelona, Calling Mr. King is at once a colorful suspense tale, laced with dark humor, and a psychological self-portrait of a character who is attempting, against the odds, to become someone else.

My Review:

Calling Mr. King by Ronald De Feo is an absolutely unique debut novel about Mr. King, a killer-for-hire who suffers an identity crisis while on “leave” from his job. Told in first person, readers do not get a descriptive introduction to Mr. King, but instead De Feo slowly leaks information throughout the novel, making for a quite intriguing mode of storytelling.  It is hard for me to fully articulate my feelings on this work, but I can say it was highly entertaining with a great combination of De Feo’s wit with a suspenseful plot.  Though the parallels are not all there, Mr. King reminded me a bit of Walter Mitty as he longed for a rebirth into an art or architecture career. De Feo’s writing, defying the typical mold of the suspense genre, really makes Calling Mr. King an enjoyable read for I found myself as captivated by his writing as I was by the unfolding plot.  Though unusual for the protagonist to be the bad guy, it just seemed to work with De Feo’s dark humor.  I highly recommend Calling Mr. King  to suspense fans and I look forward to what Mr. De Feo has to offer next.

About the Author:

Ronald De Feo has written reviews for The New York Times Book Review, The Nation, The New Republic, National Review, and Commonweal. His short fiction has appeared in such literary magazines as The Brooklyn Rail, The Hudson Review, and The Massachusetts Review. He worked at the Museum of Modern Art, was a senior editor of ARTnews Magazine, and served for many years on the editorial advisory board of Review Magazine, devoted to Latin American literature and the arts. This is his first novel.

I received a complimentary ARC of Calling Mr. King by Ronald De Feo from Other Press. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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Book Review: In the Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda

Thursday 1 September, 2011 By 6 Comments

Title: In the Sea There are Crocodiles: Based on the True Story of Enaiatollah Akbari
Author: Fabio Geda
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: August 9, 2011
Hardcover: 224 pages
ISBN: 978-0385534734
Genre: Literary Fiction

From the Publisher:

When ten-year-old Enaiatollah Akbari’s small village in Afghanistan falls prey to Taliban rule in early 2000, his mother shepherds the boy across the border into Pakistan but has to leave him there all alone to fend for himself. Thus begins Enaiat’s remarkable and often punish­ing five-year ordeal, which takes him through Iran, Turkey, and Greece before he seeks political asylum in Italy at the age of fifteen.

Along the way, Enaiat endures the crippling physical and emotional agony of dangerous border crossings, trekking across bitterly cold mountain pathways for days on end or being stuffed into the false bottom of a truck. But not every­one is as resourceful, resilient, or lucky as Enaiat, and there are many heart-wrenching casualties along the way.

Based on Enaiat’s close collaboration with Italian novelist Fabio Geda and expertly rendered in English by an award- winning translator, this novel reconstructs the young boy’s memories, perfectly preserving the childlike perspective and rhythms of an intimate oral history.

Told with humor and humanity, In the Sea There Are Crocodiles brilliantly captures Enaiat’s moving and engaging voice and lends urgency to an epic story of hope and survival.

My Review:

In the Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda captures the memories of events of young Enaiatollah Akbari, as he experienced them from the time he left his life in Afghanistan with his mother until he reached Italy, alone and in search of political asylum.  Knowing only of life under the Taliban, young Enaiat is taken to Pakistan by his mother, who subsequently leaves him there, a 10-year-old who must learn survival with only his mother’s guiding principles: do not use drugs or weapons, and do not steal.  Considered fiction because Geda has taken Enaiat’s words and crafted them into this story, the events and what was experienced by Enaiat are his true accounts.  Geda has written this novel with utmost respect for what was endured, the hardships, the atrocities, and the triumphs of Enaiat, and this respect is apparent in Geda’s style which is true to the mind of a young boy.  This story is told in as close to the direct voice of Enaiat as was possible, a poignant reminder of what human’s seek in life: a place that is safe and peaceful, a family that is nurturing and loving.  Readers will cry for this boy who seeks no pity from his plights, and then cheer as his perseverance brings him to a triumphant conclusion.  I highly recommend Geda’s In the Sea There Are Crocodiles to all readers for it is a gem.

About the Author and Translator:

Fabio Geda is an Italian novelist who writes for several Italian magazines and newspapers. This is his first book to be translated into English.

Howard Curtis is a London-based translator of Italian and French texts, for which he has won numerous awards.

I received a complimentary arc of In the Sea There Are Crocodiles by Fabio Geda from Doubleday to review. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned novel.

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