Synopsis: How an exotic dancer left the profession and founded a ministry to help other women do the same. Review: Harmony Dust’s story as told in Scars and Stilettos is not without merit. The girl has been through a lot, from childhood sexual abuse to rape to poverty, all of which led her to a soul-crushing career as an exotic dancer. I just wish that the writing had been a little stronger. Nevertheless, this is a powerful story and I hope it helps a lot…
Synopsis: Led by troubling visions of a shadowy Keeper who is probably benevolent and hoping to find Auralia and her colors, Cal-raven, king of Abascar, leads his homeless people out of exile and into a danger of another sort–seductive House Bel Amica, where brews a danger of a greater kind, related to the tentacles that sprang from the ground and destroyed House Abascar. Review: Raven’s Ladder is the third intallment in Jeffrey Overstreet‘s Auralia thread, began in Auralia’s Colors and continued in Cyndere’s Midnight. The…
Synopsis: Kaylee is a bean sidhe, a soul screamer who thinks she can save lives–until she discovers that some souls–like a talented pop star–are beyond saving because they’ve made a deal with the Netherworld. Review: My Soul To Save is a quirky read with an interesting concept, albeit one that never quite came together for me. I had difficulty grasping the worldview behind the notion of soul screamers and grim reapers (all attractive teens, of course), and so it was hard for me to connect…
Synopsis: Subtitled: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization. Review: I was first introduced to Lars Brownworth’s Lost to the West thanks to his outstanding podcast 12 Byzantine Rulers. He presented tangled, complicated history so compellingly that I just had to read the book. The book is a fantastic read. The history is clearly presented with an eye to both the big picture and the little details that bring it all to life. The way he tells it, Byzantine history casts new light on…
Thanks to random.org, the three winners are: 3–Kendell 4–Laura D. 5–Anne Email me with your address! Your Name: (required) Your Email: (required) Your Website: Your Message:
The good folks at Harlequin Teen have offered up copies of Rachel Vincent’s My Soul To Save for me to give away to 3 of my lucky readers! To enter, just leave a comment below. Win an extra entry by blogging about the contest and leaving a trackback below. Open to US residents only. Entries close at 11:59EST on 2/8/10 and 3 winners will be selected using random.org. My Soul to Save is the second book in the SoulScreamers series and it has a killer…
Synopsis: Subtitled: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. Review: Counterfeit Gods is a slim little volume that must have been taken from a sermon series by Timothy Keller, pastor of New York City’s Redeemer Presbyterian Church. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Pastor Keller speak on a number of occasions, as the church I’ve gone to for the past 15 years is in the same family as Redeemer. While I didn’t feel like I learned anything astonishingly…
And in my last little bit of coverage for the book tour for Calamity Jack, I’m pleased to offer an interview with illustrator Nathan Hale! You can read my interview with authors Shannon Hale and Dean Hale here. 1. What was the first image that came to mind when you began working on Calamity Jack? The city-I really wanted to make the city a real place. I pictured Jack running through the ruins of a fancy turn-of-the-century city. In the snow! 2. What was the…
Synopsis: A psychiatrist takes on a recalcitrant painter who attempted to stab a painting in the National Gallery, and his fruitless attempt to get the man to talk lead the doctor to investigate the artist’s life and loves–and obsessions. Review: There’s a solidly compelling mystery at the heart of The Swan Thieves, Elizabeth Kostova’s latest jaunt through history and memory. Nothing supernatural here, but it still has an otherworldy air about it that makes the experience of reading the book haunting and delicious. For the…
Synopsis: A successful lawyer is stricken by a mysterious illness that makes him walk, walk, walk, unable to slow down or stop until his body collapses from exhaustion miles from home. Review: The Unnamed is soaked in misery, both the mysterious and the more pedestrian. Tim’s walking fits threaten his job, his marriage, his security, and even his physical integrity, and he’s powerless to stop. Author Joshua Ferris wisely avoids using Tim’s condition as a literal metaphor, as easy as that might be. If anything,…