Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour for MAUD’S LINE by Margaret Verble

July 16, 2015July 14, 2015 / drbethnolan / 5 Comments

Today I am part of the virtual book tour for Margaret Verble’s new book: MAUD’S LINE, a story of a Native American teen and her family during the Depression. Here’s what HFVBT has to say:

Publication Date: July 14, 2015
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Formats: eBook, Hardcover
ISBN-10: 0544470192
Pages: 304

Genre: Historical Fiction

A debut novel chronicling the life and loves of a headstrong, earthy, and magnetic heroine

Eastern Oklahoma, 1928. Eighteen-year-old Maud Nail lives with her rogue father and sensitive brother on one of the allotments parceled out by the U.S. Government to the Cherokees when their land was confiscated for Oklahoma’s statehood. Maud’s days are filled with hard work and simple pleasures, but often marked by violence and tragedy, a fact that she accepts with determined practicality. Her prospects for a better life are slim, but when a newcomer with good looks and books rides down her section line, she takes notice. Soon she finds herself facing a series of high-stakes decisions that will determine her future and those of her loved ones.

Maud’s Line is accessible, sensuous, and vivid. It will sit on the bookshelf alongside novels by Jim Harrison, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and other beloved chroniclers of the American West and its people.

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE (NOOK) | BOOK DEPOSITORY | INDIEBOUND

PRAISE FOR MAUD’S LINE

“Maud is refreshingly open and honest about her own sexuality though conscious of her place as a woman in a sexist society, always careful not to insult the intelligence or manhood of her male friends and relations. Verble writes in a simple style that matches the hardscrabble setting and plainspoken characters. Verble, herself a member of the Cherokee Nation, tells a compelling story peopled with flawed yet sympathetic characters, sharing insights into Cherokee society on the parcels of land allotted to them after the Trail of Tears.” —Kirkus

“Writing as though Daniel Woodrell nods over one shoulder and the spirit of Willa Cather over the other, Margaret Verble gives us Maud, a gun-toting, book-loving, dream-chasing young woman whose often agonizing dilemmas can only be countered by sheer strength of heart.” —Malcolm Brooks, author of Painted Horses

“I want to live with Maud in a little farm in a little valley under the shadow of a mountain wall. Maud’s Line is an absolutely wonderful novel and Margaret Verble can drop you from great heights and still easily pick you up. I will read anything she writes, with enthusiasm.” —Jim Harrison, author of Dalva, Legends of the Fall, and The Big Seven

“Margaret Verble gives us a gorgeous window onto the Cherokee world in Oklahoma, 1927. Verble’s voice is utterly authentic, tender and funny, vivid and smart, and she creates a living community – the Nail family, Maud herself, her father, Mustard, and brother, Lovely, and the brothers Blue and Early, the quiet, tender-mouthed mare Leaf, and the big landscape of the bottoms – the land given to the Cherokees after the Trail of Tears. Beyond the allotments, it opens up into the wild, which is more or less what Verble does with this narrative. A wonderful debut novel.” —Roxana Robinson, author of Sparta

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MARGARET VERBLE, an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, has set her novel on her family’s allotment land. She currently lives in Lexington, Kentucky, and Old Windsor, England.

This book was so interesting to me. I haven’t read too many novels from the Native American perspective that take place in the 20th century beyond the work of Louise Erdrich (whom I love!). I loved the character of Maud. She was strong and smart and driven. She was very in touch with her sexuality and not embarrassed by it. She certainly faced a large amount of trials and never gave up. I found the information about living on allotted land at that time interesting. Clearly Maud was in a world that was male dominated and the laws favored men for land ownership. At the end, Maud must decide what path to take in life and what is important to her — how her family and community play a role in her identity and what she wants in life.

Great debut novel! Thank you for making me part of the tour and for my review e-copy!

You, too, can follow the tour:

BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE

Monday, July 13
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee

Tuesday, July 14
Guest Post at Mina’s Bookshelf
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Wednesday, July 15
Review at A Book Geek

Thursday, July 16
Review at Beth’s Book Nook Blog

Friday, July 17
Excerpt & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Review Plus More

Saturday, July 18
Review at Queen of All She Reads

Monday, July 20
Review at Book Nerd

Tuesday, July 21
Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

Wednesday, July 22
Interview & Excerpt at The Old Shelter
Excerpt & Giveaway at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, July 23
Review & Giveaway at Unshelfish
Spotlight at Layered Pages

Friday, July 24
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Litfuse Blog Tour for BEYOND THE ASHES by Karen Barnett and Giveaway!

July 11, 2015July 7, 2015 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I’m happy today to take part in the blog tour for Karen Barnett’s second story in her Golden Gate Chronicles series: BEYOND THE ASHES.

Here’s the synopsis from Litfuse:

About the book:
Beyond the Ashes (Abingdon Press, June 2015)Where better to rebuild and face one’s fears than in 1906 San Francisco, a city rising from the ashes?

Ruby Marshall, a young widow, is certain she’ll discover new purpose assisting her brother Robert with his cancer research, but she doesn’t anticipate finding new love.

Dr. Gerald Larkspur dreams of filling his empty home with family, but he’d always hoped it would be a wife and children. In the aftermath of the great earthquake, the rooms are overflowing with extended family and friends left homeless by the disaster. When Robert’s widowed sister arrives, the close quarters seem close indeed.

Ruby and Gerald’s fledgling romance is put at risk when Gerald develops symptoms of the very disease they’re striving to cure. Together they must ask—is it worth a second chance at love when time might be short?

Purchase a copy: http://bit.ly/1IGu1bg

About the author:

Karen Barnett is the author of Beyond the Ashes, Out of the Ruins, and Mistaken. Named the 2013 Writer of Promise by Oregon Christian Writers, Karen lives in Albany, Oregon, with her husband and two kids. When she’s not writing novels, she loves speaking at women’s events, libraries, and book clubs.

Find Karen online: website, Twitter, Facebook

If you read me, you know I love historical fiction. Plus I grew up in the Bay Area, so stories taking place in San Francisco are always a draw for me! This story had a lot of background in it about conditions after the big quake and medical issues at the time. I found the whole subplot about cancer and cancer treatment – just a hundred years ago – quite fascinating, too.

There were a lot of characters in this book, with the main ones being Ruby, her brother Robert, and his friend and fellow doctor Gerald. I did find the first half of the book a tad slow. There was a lot of build up to Ruby and Gerald’s feelings for each other. Then it seemed like the second half of the book flew! There were a few other subplots (such as one about the abuse of young Asian girls), along with Ruby and Gerald’s relationship, the upcoming wedding of Robert, Gerald’s illness, and an ill-timed diphtheria outbreak! The Christian element in this book is what I call a “light touch”. Ruby and Gerald – and another key character who was a minster – are people of faith and they let that faith guide them.

Recommended to those who enjoy historical fiction!

Here’s a chance to win a copy of your own: Giveaway!

Thank you for making me part of the tour and for my review e-copy!

You, too, can follow the tour:

Blog Tour Schedule:

Review: ABSOLUTELY TRUE LIES by Rachel Stuhler

July 1, 2015April 20, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

The fine folks at Touchstone (Simon and Schuster) kindly sent me a review copy of ABSOLUTELY TRUE LIES several weeks ago. I love, love, love stories about Hollywood and celebrities (I find them fun). This one centers on a young woman who is hired (rather haphazardly) to be the ghostwriter of a famous teen star’s autobiography.

Holly Gracin is out of luck and out of a job when she gets a phone call from a friend of her uncle about a writing project. The next thing she knows, she is the ghost writer for a famous teen pop star and part of the inner circle of the entertainer’s daily life. But nothing is easy for poor Holly, and she finds herself chasing after Daisy and her entourage and often in the spotlight herself (not in a flattering way either!). Holly has to figure out a few things about her own life’s direction, too.

I just loved this book, which was laugh-out-loud funny. Holly’s “voice” and her humor come through strongly, yet you can tell that she is a good person at heart – and not incredibly mature herself either. Poor Daisy is a bit of a puppet, held by those who make money off of her. Stuhler used her own experiences as a Hollywood ghost writer as inspiration for the novel. I found it to be a quick read – I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want to put it down. This is Stuhler’s first novel, and I’m sure there will be more.

It looks like this may be just the first of number of Holly Gracin stories. I look forward to the next!

Review: THE MAPMAKER’S CHILDREN by Sarah McCoy

May 2, 2015April 10, 2015 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

Every now and then a book comes along that is to touching and so beautifully done that it makes you want to hold it close to you and weep. This is how I felt about Sarah McCoy’s THE MAPMAKER’S CHILDREN.

In this novel, modern day Eden moves to an old house in New Charleston, W.V. Her story parallels another story of that house in a different time: as a stop on the Underground Railroad. Sarah Brown is the daughter of abolitionist John Brown and she makes maps for slaves moving north to seek freedom. Sarah is a complex character and struggles with her own physical and emotional limitations while bravely working to bring families to freedom. Eden, meanwhile, is struggling to come to terms with her relationship with her husband and the trials they have faced with infertility. Eden finds a doll’s head under the kitchen floorboards which starts her on a quest to find out more about the house. Add in a precocious young neighbor and a cute puppy, and Eden reaches the point where she must decide whether she will embrace life, or continue to live in self-doubt.

I just loved this book. I always love Sarah’s writing and this was no exception. She has an amazing ability to capture setting so that you feel the time and place; she captures character as well and you feel you really know these people. Eden’s and Sarah’s stories are woven together seamlessly.

Highly recommended! Sarah will be at the Concord Bookshop on May 7 and my calendar is marked!

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

Find this book at an indie near you – it publishes in early May. (I am an Indie Bound affiliate):

Find it at an Indie!

Review: THE STORIED LIFE OF A. J. FIKRY by Gabrielle Zevin

April 18, 2015April 18, 2015 / drbethnolan / 2 Comments

My dear friend Amy (of momadvice.com) knows how much I love to read. She recommended this book to me and told me she was sure I’d love it. I bought it for our trip in March and read it on the plane.

THE STORIED LIFE OF A. J. FIKRY tells the story of Mr. A. J. Fikry, a sad and somewhat cranky bookshop owner on a small island off Massachusetts. The story starts when he is trying to deal with the untimely loss of his wife in an accident and having a rare book stolen. Then one day a baby is left in his store (with a note written to him from the mother) and he needs to decide what he will do with the little one. Peppered throughout each section of the book, which continues throughout Fikry’s life, are quotes from famous novels that Mr. Fikry has chosen for the various points of his life and how his existence ties in to them.

Oh my goodness, I loved this book. I just loved the story, the characters, the way A.J. changed over time, and the way it all tied in to literature. I cried at the end.

Highly recommended! Thank you, Amy, for the recommendation. I read it on the plane home and couldn’t put it down.

You can find it at an indie near you: (I am an Indie Bound affiliate)

Find it at an Indie!

YA Review: THE WICKED AWAKENING OF ANNE MERCHANT by Joanna Wiebe

January 26, 2015April 21, 2019 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

Last year at this time I read and reviewed THE UNSEEMLY EDUCATION OF ANNE MERCHANT (see review here: https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2014/01/19/ya-review-the-unseemly-education-of-anne-merchant-by-joanna-wiebe/).

I liked it, so when the folks at Ben Bella Books offered me the next book in the series, I said yes please!

This novel, book 2 in the trilogy, picks up whether the first one left off. Anne is still fighting for her life, so to speak, and trying to work out her relationship with Ben and save him, too. This installment spends a lot of time giving more background and fleshing out the story of Anne and her family, her powers, etc. To be honest, I didn’t care for this book as much as the first, largely because I felt there was a lot of dialogue. Whenever there was action, though, especially at the end, I could scarcely put it down. I also got confused about what characters were what, given that some used more than one name. And to be honest, this story had a lot more about the demons in it, and demons really aren’t my thing (though I have lots of friends who love paranormal type reading with demons, etc.). I’m more of a ghost or psychic powers person.

Anyway, just wanted to be honest! I still look forward to the next and final book in this series to see how intelligent and fiery Anne will solve her problems!

Thank you for my review copy (I love the cover)!

Review: NORA WEBSTER by Colm Tóibín

January 3, 2015April 21, 2019 / drbethnolan / 2 Comments

I missed getting NORA WEBSTER on Net Galley, and heard a lot of great things about it, so I got it at the library. At the same time, some of my friends really disliked this book, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. NORA WEBSTER is the story of Nora, a young woman with four children who is widowed and living in Ireland in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The story starts with the death of Nora’s beloved husband, Maurice, and follows her through her period of mourning and into the life that she eventually creates for herself.

This book moves at a rather slow pace, but I think that this is essential. Nora in the beginning is bogged down by grief, to the point where she can barely take care of her children. The pages felt so “grey” to me. I could feel her desolation. To be able to paint Nora’s inner self so perfectly through what surrounds her, to have the pages literally convey her mood, well – all I can say is that Tóibín is a gifted writer.

Nora gets a job and connects with some friends and her sisters. She also starts to sing. Eventually she slowly comes out of her shell – a shell which was created before Maurice died, as she had surrounded herself in her family and pretty much cut herself off to escape from her small town surroundings. She begins to realize that people actually respect her and are trying to help her.

I think one of my favorite parts of this story was when Nora auditioned for the Wexford choir. Her voice teacher had built her up so much and when she went, well, she pretty much was awful. Somehow, I loved the fact that she wasn’t amazing or wonderful. And I loved even more how she just carried on. She didn’t stop singing or blame them; she realized that her singing was for herself and it didn’t matter what others thought.

Nora reminds me of an Irish Olive Kitteridge. She’s not perfect or even terribly likable, but she is very human.

You can find this book at an Indie near you – I am an Indie Bound affiliate:

Find NORA WEBSTER at an Indie

Review: WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME by Josh Sundquist

December 23, 2014April 21, 2019 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I picked up a copy of this book on Net Galley. I thought it would be a fun mix of Wimpy Kid meets Seinfeld. WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME: EMBARRASSINGLY A TRUE STORY is Josh Sundquist’s story of how he never had a girlfriend and his quest to track down significant girls from his past to find out why exactly that was. Sounds funny, right?

However, this little book was a whole lot more. First of all, Josh is a cancer survivor, having had cancer at the age of nine and having his leg amputated at that time. He also comes from a strictly religious family that homeschooled him until high school. His story is about how he comes to terms with his identity as both a person and as an amputee. Josh is funny and has a great style of writing that flows easily and is quick to read. He adds little graphs and curves to illustrate his points. However, the pain of his self-consciousness, especially when he is in middle and high school, flows through so poignantly that at one point I turned to my husband and said, “This book better have a happy ending because my heart is breaking for this poor guy”. Well, SPOILER ALERT, there is a happy ending (thankfully!). Josh finally realizes that his own worst enemy is himself and also learns self-acceptance.

I had not heard of Josh before reading his book, but he is a well-known and popular personality. He is an amazing paralympic athlete and motivational speaker. However, when I started reading this book I knew Josh only as a young boy who had lived a fairly sheltered life that had been overshadowed by cancer. I felt for his parents, who I have to assume had real difficulty in letting go of this son that they had almost lost. Josh’s portrayal of them is rather funny, but as a parent, I can see where their protectiveness comes from.

So glad you got the happy ending you deserve, Josh!

Thanks, Net Galley, for my copy!

Review: WE ARE NOT OURSELVES by Matthew Thomas

November 1, 2014April 22, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had heard some chatter about this book at BEA this spring, and I was excited to see it come up on Net Galley. It was heralded as “a multi-generational story of an Irish immigrant family in New York City”. Honestly, I found that to be a bit of a misnomer. WE ARE NOT OURSELVES follows Eileen Tumulty as she grows up in post WWII Queens. Eileen is Irish, but this novel is more a story of a life lived rather than a multi-generational overview of several lives.

Please note that the following contains SPOILERS!

Eileen’s life is portrayed from her childhood and adolescence with alcoholic parents to her marriage to introverted scientist Edward, through motherhood to a son (Connell). Throughout, Eileen was not a character with whom I felt any sort of affinity. No matter what life threw her way she was malcontent. She pushed pushed pushed Ed to be bigger, make more money, get more prestige, buy a new house, a new car, a mink coat. She pushed Connell to be the top of his class. I had at one point thought, “Geez, Eileen, be thankful for what you have and stop being so unhappy about everything.” Then tragedy strikes when Ed is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. His decline and disease is portrayed so realistically and touchingly that at times it brought tears to my eyes. And this was when I finally felt a connection to Eileen, as she became a much better person when dealing with this terrible crisis and loss than she was when everything was fine. As for Connell, until the epilogue I found him to be incredibly self-centered and selfish. Eileen wasn’t disappointed in him, but I was.

If I had to criticize something in this novel, which is acclaimed far and wide, I’d say I thought it was about 150 pages too long. I just didn’t think it needed to be 600+ pages. I also felt until near the end that the whole thing could have been summed up as “life is hard and then you die”; but the ending left me feeling a little more upbeat. Thomas is a beautiful writer.

I would love to hear from others what their experience with this novel was like.

Audiobook Review: A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve (read by Linda Emond)

October 14, 2014April 25, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

Now that fall is firmly here, I like an audio book to listen to as I drive to my children’s school and wait for them at pick up. I found A WEDDING IN DECEMBER at the library. I’ve always been an Anita Shreve fan, and I hadn’t read this one.

In A WEDDING IN DECEMBER, several old high school friends gather for the wedding of Bill and Bridget, who reconnected at their 25 year reunion. Each guest has their own skeletons in the closet and past (as well as present!) issues. Bridget is battling cancer. Bill has left his wife for her. Nora is dealing with widowhood and her feelings for past beau, Harrison. Agnes is the most interesting to me – the single friend who never left their old school and remains there as a history teacher, while writing on the side. These friends (and several more) are haunted by the death of Stephen, one of their own, during their senior year.

There’s a lot going on in this story, and at times I had some difficulty keeping everyone straight. I found Agnes’ story which she was writing, about a doctor during the Halifax disaster of 1917, intriguing and while I could see the parallels to the main story, I did find it jarring to suddenly be in Halifax with a host of other people and their problems.

Anita Shreve does here what she does best, though, which is to make people so very real and alive, that they stay with you long after reading. Linda Emond’s soothing voice adds just the right touch to this narrative.

You can see it online or get yours where I got mine: the library!