Author: drbethnolan

Litfuse Blog Tour Review: A SPARROW IN TEREZIN by Kristy Cambron and Giveaway!

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I’m blogging today as part of the Litfuse Blog tour of Kristy Cambron’s new Christian fiction novel: A SPARROW IN TEREZIN, Book Two of the Hidden Masterpiece series.(Book One is THE BUTTERFLY AND THE VIOLIN which I reviewed here: https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/review-the-butterfly-and-the-violin-by-kristy-cambron/

A SPARROW IN TEREZIN continues Sera and William’s story and focuses on a different WWII artifact: a gold necklace of a cross. When the story starts, Sera and William are getting married, however the wedding is more than marred by officials showing up and arresting William for some sort of shady/illegal/irregular dealings in the business. Sera is determined to prove his innocence, so she travels to Europe to find and speak to WIlliam’s long-lost father. Meanwhile, in the 1940’s, Kaja is sent by her parents out of Prague so that she will be safe during the war. She ends up working in England where she falls in love. Soon she heads back to Prague in an attempt to save her parents.

I have to say that while I enjoyed this book, I liked Kaja’s storyline more than Sera’s. I was a bit disappointed in Sera’s actions and the way she jumped to conclusions and hardly gave her husband a chance to explain himself and his decisions. I don’t want to give away too much, but her rashness both annoyed and disappointed me.

While you can read this novel as a stand alone, you might want to read “Butterfly” first so that you fully understand the backstory and characters. I am curious to see where this series is going next!

And wait – there’s more! Follow this link for a great giveaway basket!

Sparrow Terezin Kristy CambronBound together across time, two women will discover a powerful connection in Kristy Cambron‘s new book, A Sparrow in Terezin. Connecting across a century through one little girl, a Holocaust survivor with a foot in each world, two women will discover a kinship that springs even in the darkest of times. In this tale of hope and survival, Sera and Kája must cling to the faith that sustains and fight to protect all they hold dear—even if it means placing their own futures on the line.

Kristy is celebrating by giving away a basket filled with goodies inspired by her new book!

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One grand prize winner will receive:

  • A set of poppy notecards
  • A poppy pin
  • A copy of I Never Saw Another Butterfly
  • A copy of the Mrs. Miniver DVD
  • Literary tea bags
  • Tumbler
  • A copy of A Sparrow in Terezin
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Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 28th. Winner will be announced April 29th on Kristy’s blog.

sparrow terezin-enterbanner{NOT ON FACEBOOK? ENTER HERE.}

Here’s a bit about Kristy:

About the author:

Kristy Cambron has been fascinated with the WWII era since hearing her grandfather’s stories of the war. She holds an art history degree from Indiana University and received the Outstanding Art History Student Award. Kristy writes WWII and Regency era fiction and has placed first in the 2013 NTRWA Great Expectations and 2012 FCRW Beacon contests, and is a 2013 Laurie finalist. Kristy makes her home in Indiana with her husband and three football-loving sons.

Find Kristy online: website, Facebook, Twitter
See what other Litfuse Bloggers have to say:

Thank you for making me part of the blog tour and for my copy through Net Galley! I enjoy Kristy’s writing and the Christian focus of her books, and I look forward to the next novel in this series.

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Review: THE BODY IN THE PIAZZA by Katherine Hall Page

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I love Katherine Hall Page’s Faith Fairchild mysteries. They are cozies that combine some of the things I love most: family, food, and New England. This installment (#21 in the series) takes place in one of my favorite places: Italy.

Faith and Tom have gone to Tuscany on an anniversary trip, but it isn’t long before Faith has a dead body on her hands (a gentleman they knew from the tour) and her friend Francesca’s cooking school is in danger. Can Faith find the murderer before it’s too late?

This book has lots of fun characters and is Faith at her finest. Talk of the sights in Florence and Rome, the food, and the weather made me want to go back to Italy!

A solid contributor to this cozy series. If you like it, you should know that the latest, #22- The Body in the Birches, is set to publish in May.

I got mine via Amazon for my kindle.

Spotlight on A CHANCE KILL by Paul Letters — Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour

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Today I’m spotlighting A CHANCE KILL — a historical fiction WWII story by Paul Letters as part of the HFVBT tour!

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About A CHANCE KILL

Publication Date: February 26, 2015
Silverwood Books
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Pages: 300

Genre: Historical Fiction

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Can an individual shape a remarkable destiny, or is it all by chance?

Based upon true events, seventeen-year-old Polish catholic Dyta Zając finds herself forced away from wartime Warsaw due to her family’s shadowy connections. Dyta’s time on the run sets her on a path towards confronting the ultimate Nazi.

Half a continent away, an RAF crew embarks on Britain’s little-known first offensive of the war. In a story of fear versus hope, the unspoken limits of loyalty are exposed and the value of a compromised life is contested. Dyta’s destiny edges closer
to that of the RAF crew – and toward the Allies’ most brazen covert operation to strike at the Nazi elite.

Even more dangerous than the enemy, however, is the assumption that your enemy’s enemy is your friend…

About the Author

Author Paul Letters deals with a physical disability (which is twisted and transposed to a character in A Chance Kill). It prompted Paul to change his life and give up full-time teaching to write. He studied history, education, international affairs and literary journalism at the Universities of Cardiff, Oxford and Hong Kong.

Paul is from England and now lives in the jungled fringes of Hong Kong. He writes freelance journalism, most often for the South China Morning Post, and is currently working on a World War Two novel set in Hong Kong.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

Review: THE DREAM LOVER by Elizabeth Berg

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I love Elizabeth Berg’s writing. I’ve read just about all her books (JOY SCHOOL, DREAM WHEN YOU’RE FEELING BLUE, HOME SAFE, THE YEAR OF PLEASURES, DURABLE GOODS, and more). She’s a fantastic writer, so I was quite excited when I saw she had written a new novel: a historical biography of the author George Sands.

Told in differing points in time, this novel traces George Sand’s life from her parents’ courtship to her rise as a respected author. However, most of the focus is on her love life – who she is in love with and what happens between them. And I should mention that George Sand had a lot of loves in her life. Jumping through time, we find George (whose real name was Aurore) struggling to be a writer, George meeting her husband,  George as a young girl, George and her lovers, George and her children, etc. until the story lines converge and the plot moves forward towards the end of the book.  I struggled to keep the chronology intact while I read. To be honest, I found the parts about her childhood and her family quite interesting. I found her laundry list of lovers rather boring. A large part of this novel is George hopping in and out of bed with just about anyone who catches her eye. For 368 pages, that was a lot of hopping.

At the end of this novel, which is beautifully written, I pondered the question: what was the author’s purpose here? I think I was expecting a biography. But the title really says it all, when you think about it: “The Dream Lover”. George Sand was constantly seeking to feel love and to be loved, in part because that was when her creativity blossomed. She couldn’t write when she felt stagnant. Loving and being loved opened her up to the creative spark that lived within her. She was a genius, and she struggled against the mores that held her, as a woman, firmly in place and stifled her. Constantly seeking for the perfect love brought George into her creative realm and made her the author she was.

Interesting – well-written – but one you may need to stick with until the end, I found THE DREAM LOVER an intriguing read.

Thank you, Net Galley and Random House, for my copy!

Quick Kids’ Review: NIGHTBIRD by Alice Hoffman

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I absolutely adored this middle grade novel which I got from Net Galley.

Twig and her family live in Sidwell, Massachusetts, but her life is far from ordinary. Her brother is kept hidden because he bears the effect of a curse put upon the family years ago by witchcraft. When two young girls move in next door Twig wants to befriend them, but doing so may put her brother at risk. Even worse, the girls are the descendants of the witch who first cursed Twig’s family. Can Twig and her friends reverse the curse before it is too late?

Loved loved loved this beautifully written story about love, family, and self-acceptance.

Highly recommended!

Thank you, Net Galley and Random House, for my copy.

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HFVB Tour Review: LOOKING FOR JANE by Judith Redline Coopey

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Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours is featuring a variety of books by Judith Redline Coopey. I had the pleasure of reading LOOKING FOR JANE a few weeks ago while I was on vacation.

LOOKING FOR JANE follows the adventures of 15-year-old Nell, an orphan in Pennsylvania in the late 1800’s, who runs away from her convent orphanage as opposed to being adopted by a family who’s looking for a worker. Nell knows that her birth mother’s name was Jane and after coming across a story about Calamity Jane, she decides whole-heartedly that Calamity Jane is her birth mother and she needs to find her asap. Nell’s journey takes her through many varied adventures, meeting new friends and finding out about herself and life along the way.

I really enjoyed this story and loved the plucky character of Nell. I always love the “journey to discovery” theme in books, and this one was no exception. Ms. Coopey peppers her story throughout with interesting facts of the time period and gives Nell a very distinctive voice.  I found myself cheering for Nell as she fought her battles.

Here’s what HFVBT has to say:

Looking for Jane

Publication Date: December 21, 2012
Fox Hollow Press
Formats: ebook & Paperback
Pages: 238

Genre: Historical Fiction

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READ AN EXCERPT.

“The nuns use this as their measuring stick: who your people are. Well, what if you don’t have no people? Or any you know of? What then? Are you doomed?” This is the nagging question of fifteen-year-old Nell’s life. Born with a cleft palate and left a foundling on the doorstep of a convent, she yearns to know her mother, whose name, she knows, was Jane.

When the Mother Superior tries to pawn her off to a mean looking farmer and his beaten down wife, Nell opts for the only alternative she can see: she runs away. A chance encounter with a dime novel exhorting the exploits of Calamity Jane, heroine of the west, gives Nell the purpose of her life: to find Calamity Jane, who Nell is convinced is her mother.

Her quest takes her down rivers, up rivers and across the Badlands to Deadwood, South Dakota and introduces her to Soot, a big, lovable black dog, and Jeremy Chatterfield, a handsome young Englishman who isn’t particular about how he makes his way, as long as he doesn’t have to work for it. Together they trek across the country meeting characters as wonderful and bizarre as the adventure they seek, learning about themselves and the world along the way.

Buy Looking for Jane

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

I have mixed feelings as to the age group for this story — there is some implied sexual situations in the story, but nothing graphic. I personally would let my sixth grader read it, but it really seems geared as not a children’s book. I enjoyed it a lot!

Thanks for making me part of the tour and for my review copy!

BLOG TOUR == YA/Kids’ Review: ENCHANTMENT LAKE by Margi Preus and GIVEAWAY!

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Preus Tour Banner

I grabbed this fun YA mystery off of Net Galley a while ago, but then was asked to take part in the blog tour for it!

In this story, seventeen year old Francie leaves New York to go to a remote part of Minnesota to help her elderly great aunts whose neighbors seem to be dying every time you turn around. Francie is an actress who once played a detective on television, so everyone refers to her as “that detective”. Eventually she gives up correcting them. She’s dealing with land developers, pushy summer people, legends of treasure, and some dark secrets from her family’s past that she never knew. While she works to figure out who is behind the sudden deaths, Francie realizes that she might be next!

This was a cute book – reminded me of Nancy Drew or something similar. Francie is a brave and intelligent young woman, but she had me laughing at times, too. Perhaps this is the start of a series? I can’t wait to introduce my daughter to Francie.

This book is published by University of Minnesota Press. Author Margi Preus is the New York Times bestselling author of books for young readers, including Shadow on the Mountain, West of the Moon, and Heart of a Samurai, which won a Newberry Honor.

Here’s a picture of Ms. Preus, credit to Shirleen Hieb Photography:

Preus, Margi credit to Shirleen_Hieb_Photography

preus_enchantment cover

But wait — there’s more!

My friends at University of Minnesota Press is offering not one, not two, but THREE giveaway copies — SIGNED by Ms. Preus (hey – I want one!) to winners from the U.S. and/or CANADA. Yipee!!

Leave me a comment below (one entry per person) and I will use random.org to pick winners. Enter up until 12:01 am on April 19 – because that’s my birthday and this will be my gift to you!! 🙂

Quick Review: FIRST FROST by Sarah Addison Allen

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I love Sarah Addison Allen’s writing. I’ve read all her books (such as GARDEN SPELLS, LOST LAKE, THE PEACH KEEPER, etc.) and was so excited when my husband got FIRST FROST for me. This novel continues the story of the Waverly sisters, and their families who we were first introduced to in GARDEN SPELLS (you can see my review from 2011 here: https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/quick-review-garden-spells-by-sarah-addison-allen/).

This You Tube book trailer says it all better than I could (since a picture is worth 1,000 words!):

Fans of Ms. Allen should not miss this one! A satisfying and reaffirming read.

Find it at an indie near you:


Find it at an Indie!

Review: A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott

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I found this fun story on Net Galley. I’ve always been a fan of classic movies and this story sounded so neat: a young woman moves to Hollywood from Indiana since she wants to be a screenwriter. She becomes a personal assistant to Carole Lombard and spends time with Lombard and Butler as the filming of “Gone with the Wind” is taking place.

I’ve read Kate Alcott’s other two books — both I actually listened to as audiobooks in the car (The Daring Ladies of Lowell and The Dressmaker). I liked this novel more than either of those two (which I also enjoyed). TOUCH OF STARDUST focuses on Julie Crawford, who I was rooting for throughout the story. She is seeking independence and wants to be a screenwriter in a male-dominated industry. She meets a young man, Andy, whom she is drawn to and starts dating. Andy is Jewish and this ties in to the more global story of the war in Europe (it is 1938) and Andy’s concern for his relatives. The portrayal of Carole Lombard and the other movie people, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, David O’ Selznick, etc. is what made the story for me. They truly come alive on these pages. Alcott has done her research and homework into events of the time, issues in the making of the movie, life in Hollywood in the pre-war 30’s, and mostly the personalities of these movie icons.

An enjoyable and fun read that I highly recommend if you, like me, are a fan of classic Hollywood.

Thank you for my review copy, Net Galley and Doubleday Books!

Find this book at an indie near you! (I am an Indie Bound affiliate).


Find it at an Indie!