"Three Lives of Tomomi Ishikawa" by Benjamin Constable ~ Extraordinary Read!

SUMMARY :

What writer Benjamin Constable needs is a real-life adventure wilder than his rampant imagination. And who better to shake up his comfortable Englishman-in-Paris routine than the enigmatic Tomomi “Butterfly” Ishikawa, who has just sent a cryptic suicide note?

She’s planted a slew of clues—in the pages of her journal, on the hard drive of her computer, tucked away in public places, under flowerpots, and behind statues. Heartbroken, confused, and accompanied by an imaginary cat, Ben embarks upon a scavenger hunt leading to charming and unexpected spaces, from the hidden alleys of Paris to the cobblestone streets of New York City.

But Butterfly’s posthumous messages are surprisingly well informed for the words of a dead person, and they’re full of confessions of a past darkened by insanity, betrayal, and murder. The treasures Ben is unearthing are installments of a gruesome memoir. Now he must draw a clear line between the real and surreal if he is to save himself, Butterfly, and what remains of their crazy and amazing friendship.

ABOUT THE BOOK :

ISBN-13: 9781451667264

Publisher: Gallery Books

Publication date: 6/4/2013

Pages: 352

SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Benjamin Constable was born in Bristol and grew up mostly in Derby. He lives in Paris where he writes fiction and teaches English. Three Lives of Tomomi Ishikawa is his first novel.


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

This is an odd little book.  One of those that starts out feeling contrived and suddenly sinks its teeth in you and won't let go.  It simply "grows on  you."  I confess I didn't like it to begin with, but the more I decided to give it a chance, the more I liked it. 

The author has a way of causing his characters to become endearing as you read the quandary of Ben to find Butterfly's clues to her mysterious self and the "task" she's set him.  Ben is immediately captivating.  He's the proverbial innocent boy-next-door who needs someone to shake up his life; and, Butterfly seems the perfect, quirky girl to do just that.

What I also really loved about the book was the details about Paris...some odd little tidbits.  And I liked the glimpses into the computer and journal life of Butterfly as she led Ben on and left her "clues."  New York looked pretty awesome in this author's eyes, as well!

This isn't a book for everyone.  I'd say it's rather a quest into something unusual and a taste of something a little sweet 'n sour off the shelves.  I loved it, but it may not be for everyone's tastes. 
One of those books you have to sit back and let take you on a serendipitous trip...

4 stars                       Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Angelology" by Danielle Trussoni~An Author Introduction and Review

SUMMARY :

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A covert age-old war between angels and humans serves as the backdrop for Trussoni’s gripping tale of supernatural thrills and divine destinies. Sister Evangeline, the secretary who handles all inquiries concerning the archives of angel arcana at an upstate New York convent, receives a letter from researcher V.A. Verlaine inquiring about an unknown link between the convent and philanthropist Abigail Rockefeller dating to 1943. It turns out that the Rockefellers were interested in a legendary artifact associated with an order of fallen angels. That priceless artifact is coveted by Verlaine’s employer, Percival Grigori, a Nephilim—offspring of the union between mortal and angel parents—who will stop at nothing to retrieve it for the awesome power it will give his race over humanity. Trussoni (Falling Through the Earth) anchors this fanciful dark fantasy to a solid foundation built from Catholic church history, biblical exegesis, and apocryphal texts. Suspenseful intrigues and apocalyptic battle scenes give this complexly plotted tale a vigor and vitality all the more exciting for its intelligence. 9-city author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:

Published by:  Thorndike Press

Pages:  787

Genre:  Fiction

Author:  Danielle Trussoni

Website:  Danielle Trussoni  includes information about her newest novel "Angelopolis"

Purchase Here:  http://www.amazon.com/Angelology-Thorndike-Thrillers-Danielle-Trussoni/dp/141042541X/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1365352256&sr=1-1

 

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

 

Danielle Trussoni is the author of' "Falling Through the Earth: A Memoir," which was the recipient of the 2006 Michener-Copernicus Society of America Award, was a BookSense pick and was one of The New York Times Ten Best Books of 2006. Her first novel "Angelology" will be published in 30 countries.

 

 

AN INTERVIEW WITH MS TRUSSONI :

 

Note:  This interview is taken from Pursuitist online magazine~

 

Interview with Angelology Author Danielle Trussoni

By Alex Carter in Arts

 

Danielle Trussoni is the author of the memoir Falling Through the Earth, which was selected as one of the Ten Best Books of 2006 by The New York Times Book Review. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, she lives in the United States and France. Trussoni’s first novel Angelology was inundated with rave reviews; the New York Times’ Janet Maslin called Angelology “a class-obsessed, scholarship-spouting, minutiae-strewn thrill ride that follows the “Da Vinci Code” model as loftily as it can.” Trussoni is planning a series and is already at work on a second book, Angelopolis. Variety reports that Columbia beat Universal in a million dollar auction for film rights to Angelology, which will be produced by Will Smith and James Lassiter’s company Overbrook Entertainment.

Here’s a quick Q&A with the author of Angelology:

Q. What inspired you to combine the Orpheus myth with the Biblical tale of the fallen angels?

A. I began to write Angelology with a very clear picture of the settings I wanted to include in the story. I knew that I wanted to write about a convent and I knew that I wanted to write about The Devil’s Throat, a cave in the Rhodopes Mountains of Bulgaria with an amazing waterfall and underground river that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, but I wasn’t entirely sure of how to bring the material together.
Knowing that I needed to have a firsthand encounter with convent life, I went to St. Rose Convent in La Crosse, Wisconsin (my hometown) to speak with the nuns who lived there. My great-aunt Drusilla is a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration living at St. Rose, and this made my presence at the convent a little less odd, although I’m sure that the nuns didn’t know what to think of having a writer trailing after them and asking personal questions!
At the time of my visit to the convent, I had no clear vision of how I would write about the convent. And so I spent a lot of time simply following the Sisters through their day. There was a beautiful chapel at St. Rose where the nuns went to pray. One night, when I was walking back from the chapel, I found myself in the convent reading room, a small space filled with religious books. One shelf of the library was filled with books about angels. I took a stack of books down, sat in a comfortable chair and began reading. Within hours I understood that angels would be at the very center of my book and that the Nephilim—the angel-human hybrids mentioned in Genesis 6 of the Bible—would be central characters.
I came to the Orpheus myth in an equally roundabout fashion. The Devil’s Throat captured my imagination when I lived in Sofia, Bulgaria, with my husband, the writer Nikolai Grozni. He took me to the cave for the first time and I fell in love with the stark, craggy landscape and the mythologies that surrounded the cave. In local legend, the Devil’s Throat forms the entrance to the underworld where Orpheus descended to save his lover Eurydice. So my interest in Orpheus was really secondary to my interest in the cave itself, at least in the beginning.

Q. How was the process of writing your previous book, the memoir Falling Through the Earth, different from writing the novel Angelology?

A. The process was completely different in some ways and very similar in others. My first book was a memoir about my relationship with my father and was, of course, much more personal in nature. I found that Falling Through the Earth was more emotionally draining, especially because my father was ill for much of the time I was writing the book. Angelology, on the other hand, was a pleasure to write. I had such fun creating the characters. I found that I deeply enjoyed going to my desk each morning because I would often discover something completely new about the story. By the end, I loved the characters I had created and didn’t want the project to end.

Q. What kind of research did you do in order to write Angelology?

A. Research was a huge element in preparing to write Angelology. I did not have much experience studying theology or the history of religion, and so I felt that it was absolutely necessary to learn as much as possible about the various perceptions of angels. I read a lot of wonderful academic studies about angels and I read quite a lot of the Bible. I read parts of Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine and the history of religious orders in the United States. It was also very important for me to research the historical periods that appear in the novel—the medieval world of Brother Clematis, the Second World War environment of Celestine and Gabriella. I also made many trips to New York to capture Evangeline’s and Verlaine’s world.
Q. Which did you enjoy writing more, the present-day events with Evangeline and Verlaine or Celestine’s narrative?
A. Actually, the most engrossing section of Angelology for me to write was Brother Clematis’s narrative, a first-person journal of a monk’s journey to the Devil’s Throat. I also loved writing Celestine’s recollections of Paris in the 1940s. Both of these characters allowed me to imagine places and historical events that were very far from the life I was living when I wrote the book. Being transported to other places is, for me, is the real pleasure of writing fiction.

Q. One of the novel’s conceits suggests that the divide between church and science was engineered by an outside agency. Do you think religion and science have become antagonistic?

A. Yes, it seems to me that, in many ways, science and religion have parted ways. We don’t have many intellectuals like Isaac Newton who are dedicated to exploring both the divine and natural worlds at once. Our era is marked by the division of thought into specialized compartments—either one is a scientist or a historian or a mathematician or a philosopher or a doctor. Indeed, Newton—who was a physicist and an astronomer and a theologian among other things—would probably find our specialized approach to knowledge very strange.

Q. Do you believe that a more-than-human evil lay behind the rise of the Nazi regime and others like it?

A. In Angelology, the characters posit the idea that the Nephilim are behind all great acts of evil throughout history—war, famine, genocide, and great economic inequality. The angelologists, who are at work to fight the Nephilim, believe that through wealth and influence the Nephilim have created systems—economic, political, social—that suppress regular people. Some of the characters in the novel believe that the Nephilim orchestrated the Nazi rise to power, but of course this speculation is part of the fictional world I’ve created.

Q. You split your time between the United States and France. Has living abroad altered your perceptions as a writer?

A. I have always loved the sense of dislocation I feel when I live abroad. I have lived in Japan, Bulgaria and now France. I find that I begin to pay very close attention to my own culture when I’m in a place that is entirely foreign, and that my attention to detail sharpens. The English language becomes very comforting, almost like a cocoon, after fumbling with a foreign language. In the end, it is nice to have the option to live far away from home but then, of course, it is great to come back, too.

Q. Your husband, Nikolai Grozni, is also a novelist. How does living with another writer affect your own work?

A. In a lot of ways living with another writer helps me to stay on course with my own work. We have a set schedule each day. Both Nikolai and I write in the morning in different offices at home. We work until around lunch, eat lunch together, and then either go back to writing or do the shopping or take a walk. Our morning work hours are very quiet, very calm, with no music or television on, making the house a perfect environment for writing. I am also able to discuss my work with Nikolai, which is unbelievably helpful.

Q. The ending of Angelology has quite a surprise twist. Where do you see Evangeline headed from here?

A. Evangeline is in quite a difficult situation at the end of Angelology and she will be working through the complications of this in the next book.

Q. What are you working on now?

A. I am writing about Evangeline, of course! The sequel to Angelology is set in Paris and finds Evangeline and Verlaine trying to find their way back to one another.

 

 

video of "Angelology" Danielle Trussoni discussing the angels :

 

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME'S COMMENTS :

 

This was a fabulous book!  Mysterious and monumental in the telling of the legendary Nephilim of biblical times.  I was completely mesmerized by it.  Danielle Trussoni is a master storyteller.  Imaginative does little to describe her talents.  "Angelology" is a mystery and suspense novel that is unusual while it posits some interesting theories about earthbound angels spoken of in ancient times.

 

The angel characters Ms Trussoni has created are glorious, dark creatures while they pass for beautiful humans.  Charismatic and strong, they draw the average human to them, often with deadly results.  As literary figures they are as monumental and captivating as Anne Rice's vampires.  I fell in love with them...even the most evil of them!

 

Evangeline, the "human" protagonist who grew up protected in the convent is a precious figure who becomes daring and dangerous as the novel progresses.  I found this so compelling in the plot as it drove the action and kept me cheering her on.

 

This is a startling novel unlike any I've ever read.  It's rich in detail.  Rich in gothic, descriptive surrounding and lush living.  The angelic creations are gorgeous and inspired. 

 

Ms Trussoni is a wonderful author who has followed up "Angelology" with a new book, "Angelopolis" which I'll be reviewing in the coming week.  It, too, is a blockbuster of a novel!

Stay tuned for that one.

 

I highly recommend this book as a great read and the first in Trussoni's series.  You can grab it in paperback on the bookstands now.

See my previous review of the book here:  http://abookishlibraria.blogspot.com/2011/09/angels-with-extraordinary.html

 

 

5 stars              Deborah/TheBookishDame

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"Blackberry Winter" by Sarah Jio ~ Won't Disappoint Her Fans!

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SUMMARY:

 

In 2011, Sarah Jio burst onto the fiction scene with two sensational novels--The Violets of March and The Bungalow. With Blackberry Winter--taking its title from a late-season, cold-weather phenomenon--Jio continues her rich exploration of the ways personal connections can transcend the boundaries of time.

Seattle, 1933. Single mother Vera Ray kisses her three-year-old son, Daniel, goodnight and departs to work the night-shift at a local hotel. She emerges to discover that a May-Day snow has blanketed the city, and that her son has vanished. Outside, she finds his beloved teddy bear lying face-down on an icy street, the snow covering up any trace of his tracks, or the perpetrator's.

Seattle, 2010. Seattle Herald reporter Claire Aldridge, assigned to cover the May 1 "blackberry winter" storm and its twin, learns of the unsolved abduction and vows to unearth the truth. In the process, she finds that she and Vera may be linked in unexpected ways...

 

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

 

Published by:  Plume

Pages:  320

Genre:  Contemporary Fiction

Purchase this book:  Amazon

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A BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

 

 

 

Sarah Jio is the New York Times bestselling author of BLACKBERRY WINTER, THE VIOLETS OF MARCH (a Library Journal Best Book of 2011), THE BUNGALOW, and THE LAST CAMELLIA (to be published on 5/28/13)–all from Penguin (Plume). A magazine writer and the health and fitness blogger for Glamour magazine, she has written thousands of articles for national magazines and newspapers including Redbook, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cooking Light, Glamour, SELF, Real Simple, Fitness, Marie Claire, Hallmark magazine, Seventeen, The Nest, Health, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, The Seattle Times, Parents, Woman’s Day, American Baby, Parenting, and Kiwi. She has also appeared as a commentator on NPR’s Morning Edition.

Sarah has a degree in journalism and writes about topics that include food, nutrition, health, entertaining, travel, diet/weight loss, beauty, fitness, shopping, psychology, parenting and beyond. She frequently tests and develops recipes for major magazines.

Sarah is working on her fifth and sixth novels. In total, to date, Sarah’s books have been sold/translated for publication in 17 countries.

Sarah lives in Seattle with her husband, Jason, and their three young sons.

 

Please find her blog and more about her here:  Sarah Jio

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME'S REVIEW :

 

This is a charming novel with a story that will keep you turning pages long into the evening.  Sarah Jio is a writer with her fingers on the pulse of the young American woman...particularly young homemakers, I would think.  Not a heavy novel with a dreary or difficult message to give, this book has a sweet note of love and redemption to deliver.  I thought it was a bit old-fashioned and bridging close to a romance novel, but it was enjoyable for a change of pace for me.

 

There isn't a lot of sophistication to Ms Jio's writing; however, it is beautiful in its own way.  It is simple and clear with a kindly storytelling manner.  Her characters are lovable and real, making one feel immediately sympathetic to their struggles.

 

Vera, the young, single mother who has difficulties with love and taking care of her child, is a wonderful character.  I fell in love with her from the start.  I couldn't help cringing at some of the things that happened to her, and smiling at some of the happy moments she shared with her little boy.  This is the power of Sarah Jio.  Her characters throughout the book are charming and captivating.  They engender emotional responses such as sadness, joy, laughter and tears.

 

We may have read similar stories to this one in other places and times, but rarely with the depth of compassion and feeling Jio enlists.  This book is sure to draw lots of readers who are familiar with her other books and writings.  She is a popular writer with a voice that appeals to a broad spectrum of readers.  I don't think they will be disappointed with "Blackberry Winter" at all.

 

4 stars for a good read with lovable characters                Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

 

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"The Two Week Wait" by Sarah Rayner~A Moral Story

 

SUMMARY :

 

A memorable and moving page-turner about two very different women, each yearning to create a family of her own.

What if the thing you most longed for was resting on a two week wait? From the author of the international bestselling One Moment, One Morning, comes a moving portrait about what it truly means to be a family.

After a health scare, Brighton-based Lou is forced to confront the fact that her time to have a baby is running out. She can't imagine a future without children, but her partner doesn't seem to feel the same way, and she's not sure whether she could go it alone.

Meanwhile, in Yorkshire, Cath is longing to start a family with her husband, Rich. No one would be happier to have children than Rich, but Cath is infertile.

Could these strangers help one another?

With her deft exploration of raw emotions and her celebration of the joy and resilience of friendship, The Two Week Wait is Sarah Rayner at her best.

PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :
Published by:  St. Martin's Press
Pages:  432
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Purchase the book:  Barnes & Noble  or  Amazon


A BIT ABOUT MS RAYNOR :

 

 

SARAH RAYNER was born in London and now lives in Brighton with her partner. She worked for many years as an advertising copywriter, and now writes fiction full time.

 

 

 

JESSICA'S REVIEW :

 

I was immediately drawn to the storyline summarized on the cover of this novel.  I am a woman who myself has been through the ups and downs, joys and sadness of the journey of fertility treatments, and IVF.  I couldn’t wait to see if what Rayner wrote on was at all close to the complexity that fertility and IVF brings.

 I loved many many things about this novel, but the two things I will highlight are Rayner’s  incredible gift for creating complex characters, and her ability to draw a reader into the story so much so that I re-established what I thought were my clearly established ethics.

Rayner’s characters are masterfully created, she is deliberate and insightful.  Each of the women in the novel are individual in their thoughts and struggles, yet each experience the deep heartache and longing to be a mother.  The emotions that both the men and women characters share bind them to the reader.  I felt compelled to read on, experiencing this journey with them.  I felt an immediate connection to all of the characters, seeing them all as separate entities, yet connecting them in my mind by drawing on emotions that I have felt during the long years of waiting for it to be my turn to be a mother.

I was also fascinated by Rayner’s ability to make me question my own ethics.  Rayner quietly and intentionally creates human experiences, connections, and limitations.   I had no idea when I started the novel that one of the characters longing to be a mother was a lesbian.  When this life choice was revealed early on in the novel, I felt myself immediately make a judgment.  Until this, I had liked the character.  It stunned me that I would  immediately shut down my compassion for the circumstance based on that particular character’s  personal choices.  I began to feel myself siding with the heterosexual couple, consciously noting the distance I began to place between myself and the gay couple. 

Rayner was able to take me out of my comfort zone, and draw me in to questioning my own so called established ethics.  I realized the compassion I was feeling for the women was not because of the life style they made, but because they were characters written with such detailed complex emotions, ones that I have felt, and do feel.  It became apparent to me, that I had consciously made a decision as a reader to negate characters’ feelings based on her sexuality!  I thought a long time on that.  Rayner, and her gift for characterization, helped me to take down the dividing wall I had built in my mind, and see them openly  as women, as people with the same desires and longings  I have had.

I really savored this novel.  It was to me an eye opening look at not only the ethical rollercoaster that fertility creates, but also the dividing boundaries that society instills in people.  This  novel is a love story, but not in the traditional sense.  It is a story of women with the powerful desire to be a mother.

I would recommend the novel to anyone.  This novel will take you on a journey, one that will leave you with a deeper understanding of the soul wrenching decisions one makes in the ultimate hope to be a mother.  I hope it does for you what it did for me, made me question my own morals and ethics, and opened the doors of my heart.  Bravo Rayner!  I applaud your bravery, your compassion, and deep understanding of the complexities of the human heart.

 

5 stars                 Jessica/A Bookish Dame

 

 



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"The Drowning House" by Elizabeth Black ~ Hypnotic!

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

A gripping suspense story about a woman who returns to Galveston, Texas after a personal tragedy and is irresistibly drawn into the insular world she’s struggled to leave.
Photographer Clare Porterfield's once-happy marriage is coming apart, unraveling under the strain of a family tragedy. When she receives an invitation to direct an exhibition in her hometown of Galveston, Texas, she jumps at the chance to escape her grief and reconnect with the island she hasn't seen for ten years. There Clare will have the time and space to search for answers about her troubled past and her family's complicated relationship with the wealthy and influential Carraday family.

Soon she finds herself drawn into a century-old mystery involving Stella Carraday. Local legend has it that Stella drowned in her family's house during the Great Hurricane of 1900, hanged by her long hair from the drawing room chandelier. Could Stella have been saved? What is the true nature of Clare's family's involvement? The questions grow like the wildflower vines that climb up the walls and fences of the island. And the closer Clare gets to the answers, the darker and more disturbing the truth becomes.

Steeped in the rich local history of Galveston, The Drowning House portrays two families, inextricably linked by tragedy and time.

"The Drowning House marks the emergence of an impressive new literary voice. Elizabeth Black's suspenseful inquiry into dark family secrets is enriched by a remarkable succession of images, often minutely observed, that bring characters, setting, and story sharply into focus." —John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

*Note:  Taken from Barnes and Noble Overview


PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by:  Knopf Doubleday Publishing
Pages:  288
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Find the book:  Barnes & Noble and Indie Bound


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Black was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island and now lives in Houston, Texas. The Drowning House is her first novel.


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

Quickly go grab a copy of this book.  It's hopping off the shelves. There were only two copies left at my local book store. Articulate and hypnotic, this is a novel that flows and speeds toward its conclusion. It will hold you captive for hours.  Elizabeth Black can't possibly be a debut author, I thought!  Her book is so good, I was reminded of "Prince of Tides" from the get-go.  I absolutely couldn't put it down.

Told from the perspective of Clare, a young artistic photographer who has just experienced the death of her only child and who returns to her childhood home, it is a break-neck suspense novel and Southern Gothic.  It takes place around Galveston Island with its own set of mysteries and island lore, town folkisms and traditions that kept me on the edge of my seat.

Ms Black has a distinct voice that is seductive.  She is a writer of the old school in that she knows how to tell a tale about the South with its idiosyncrasies, love of the strange and absurd; characters in particular, families that are eccentric and enduring.  I could read her work all night long.

Let me give you an example:

"...Every instant of every day, life is streaming past, all experience--every action, word, or thought, every particle of intention--rushing toward some moment you can't foresee that is anything but safe.  Toward, perhaps, one ordinary afternoon."

and

"...marriage is generally unfathomable..."  She had no understanding even of her own.


I resonated with this author from the moment I picked up her book.  She was writing my story; in my head, speaking my thoughts.  If there's one book you should read this year it's this one.  I have a feeling it's going to be one of my favorites.

5 shining stars for a debut author               Deborah/TheBookishDame
 

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"Heart Like Mine" by Amy Hatvany ~ Exceptional Story!

 

 

SUMMARY :

 

From rising star Amy Hatvany, an engrossing new novel about a woman whose life is turned upside down when the man she's engaged to suddenly becomes a full-time father to the children from his previous marriage.

 

Thirty-six-year-old Grace McAllister never longed for children. But when she meets Victor Hansen, a handsome, charismatic divorced restaurateur who is father to Max and Ava, Grace decides that, for the right man, she could learn to be an excellent part-time stepmom. After all, the kids live with their mother, Kelli. How hard could it be?

At thirteen, Ava Hansen is mature beyond her years. Since her parents’ divorce, she has been the one taking care of her emotionally unstable mother and her little brother—she pays the bills, does the laundry, and never complains because she loves her mama more than anyone. And while her father’s new girlfriend is nice enough, Ava still holds out hope that her parents will get back together and that they’ll be a family again.

But only days after Victor and Grace get engaged, Kelli dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances—and soon, Grace and Ava discover there was much more to Kelli’s life than either ever knew.

Narrated by Grace and Ava in the present with flashbacks into Kelli’s troubled past, Heart Like Mine is a poignant and hopeful portrait about womanhood, love, and the challenges of family life.

PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :
Published by:  Washington Square Press
Pages:  342 and Readers Club Guide
Genre:  Fiction/Contemporary
Find more here:  Amy Hatvany
Twitter:  @AmyHatvany
Facebook.com/amy.hatvany


SOMETHING ABOUT MS HATVANY :   *Taken from her website

Amy was born in Seattle, WA in 1972, the youngest of three children. She graduated from Western Washington University in 1994 with a degree in Sociology only to discover most sociologists are unemployed. Soon followed a variety of jobs – some of which she loved, like decorating wedding cakes; others which she merely tolerated, like receptionist. In 1998, Amy finally decided to sell her car, quit her job, and take a chance on writing books.

The literary gods took kindly to her aspirations and THE KIND OF LOVE THAT SAVES YOU was published in 2000 by Bantam Doubleday. THE LANGUAGE OF SISTERS was picked up by NAL in 2002. (Both were published under her previous last name, Yurk.)

Amy spends most of her time today with her second and final husband, Stephan. (Seriously, if this one doesn’t work out, she’s done, kaput, no more husbands.) She stays busy with her two children, Scarlett and Miles, and her “bonus child,” Anna. Their blended family also includes two four-legged hairy children, commonly known as Black Lab mutts, Kenda and Dolcé. When Amy’s not with friends or family, she is most likely reading, cooking, or zoning out on certain reality television shows. Top Chef is a current favorite. She eagerly awaits auditions for the cast of “Top Author.” (“Quick Edit” instead of “Quick Fire” Challenge? C’mon, producers! That’s gripping television!) THE DAME'S REVIEW : I really wanted to review "Heart Like Mine" so much and was delighted to be able to get a reader's copy recently.  It was burning a hole in my coffee table all through the Christmas holidays as I was dying for the opportune time to pick it up for a good read.  Well worth the wait, I'm here to report to you! Amy Hatvany is one of the best of the contemporary women writers of today, in my humble opinion.  She knows how to translate women's issues and to bring them to the forefront through believable and endearing characters, both female and male...and those of all ages.  She is a chronicler of our times, I think, in her assessment of what goes on in the contemporary family and in the minds of those mothers who are dealing with them.  She has her hand on the pulse of women in crises and she can tell you about them so that you feel their angst and their push-pull of emotions. My sympathies were torn in this book between the main female characters. Grace, the young woman who really didn't want to be a mother but was thrust into a situation where she had to choose to be one or not to the children of the man she loved.  A tough decision no matter how you look at it!  And, Kelli, the natural mother of the children in question, who died and left them to their father. Both of these women, the children and their father seemed so real in Hatvany's hands!  I thought about them in the hours when I wasn't reading...   If, as so many authors believe, characterization is the thing that makes a book great, "Heart Like Mine" is a great book! It is a gripping novel from the first sentences and it holds on 'til the last.  This is one you won't soon forget, with women you'll be thinking about for days after you put the book down.  A perfect book for book group reading!   5 stars   Deborah/TheBookishDame

 

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GIVEAWAY!! "Forgotten" by Catherine McKenzie~Unforgettable!

SUMMARY :

Emma Tupper is a dedicated lawyer with a bright future. But when she takes a month-long leave of absence to go on an African vacation, she ends up facing unexpected consequences. After she falls ill and spends six months trapped in a remote village thanks to a devastating earthquake, Emma returns home to discover that her friends, boyfriend, and colleagues thought she was dead—and that her life has moved on without her.

As she struggles to re-create her old life, throwing herself into solving a big case for a client and trying to reclaim her beloved apartment from the handsome photographer who assumed her lease, everyone around her thinks she should take the opportunity to change. But is she willing to sacrifice her job, her relationships, and everything else she worked so hard to build?

In Forgotten, Catherine McKenzie tweaks a classic tale of discovering who we really are when everything that brings meaning to our lives is lost.

PARTICULARS OF THIS BOOK :
Publisher:  William Morris/Harper Collins Publishing
Pages:  437
Genre:  General Fiction/Adult
Author:  Catherine McKenzie
Learn More About the Book:  http://www.catherinemckenzie.com
Purchase here:   Barnes & Noble  and  Amazon
Other book by Ms McKenzie:  "Spin"  reviewed here!  Seach, please!


Video Trailer!!!!  Meet Catherine McKenzie...

 

 

 

The Dame Interviews Catherine McKenzie!!

 

 

Hello, Catherine.  Welcome to A Bookish Libraria!

I’m so delighted you’ve agreed to allow us to get to know you and your book better.  I have several questions!  So exciting to have you here...

 

1) First of all, please tell us a special something about what makes you “tick.”  When you aren’t writing, what are you doing?

 

There’s a long list of things I’m doing when I’m not writing – I work as a lawyer – but one thing that makes me tick is running. And TV.

 

2) You chose a specific place and time to write about, what made you choose it?

 

The inspiration for Forgotten was a story I heard about a woman who’d been stuck in Africa for a period of time so that is what inspired me to set part of the book in Africa.

 

3) Bronte or Austen?  Hemingway or Hawthorne?  Why?

 

Austen, definitely. Austen makes me smile and nod. I find Bronte (all of them) really bleak. Hemingway. He’s a master at dialogue.

 

4) In your opinion, what makes a book a great one?

 

When you can’t put it down. When you’re sorry it ends. When you can’t wait to read it again.

 

5) Which author(s) most influenced your love of books? 

 

L.M. Montgomery, Laura Ingalls Wilder – I read and read and read them as a child.

 

6) Read any good books in the past 6 months?

 

Yes, several! Loved Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Defending Jacob by William Landy, When She Wokeby Hillary Jordan

 

("Defending Jacob" reviewed here earlier this year.  Search on sidebar!!)

 

7) Choose 4 guests from any era for dinner.  Who would they be and what would you choose for a topic of conversation?

 

Austen, L.M. Montgomery, Bob Dylan, John Lennon. I’d just let the conversation flow.

 

8) There’s a song that goes along with your book, what is it?

 

Leaving on a Jet Plane.

 

9) If you could cast your book for a movie, who would you choose for your 2 main characters?

 

I can never answer this question! Seriously, I don’t have a visual image of the characters and prefer to leave it to people’s imagination.

 

10) Worst habit you have while writing books?

 

Not outlining enough.

 

11) How much research did you do before and during writing?

 

Quite a bit on Africa to develop the country where it was set.

 

12) Psychologists tell us the thing we think we’d most like to grow up to be when we’re ten years old is our avocation.  What did you want to be?

 

An astronaut.

 

Thank you, Catherine.  Pleasure to have you on my blog.  You're the best!

 



THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS "FORGOTTEN:"

It's always pure pleasure to read a book by Catherine McKenzie.  Easy and refreshing dialog, interesting plot, and over all intriguing problems to work through.  Her books are current and relevant.  I just love the way she writes.  She's witty and wise at the same time.  If you haven't read one of her books, grab this one asap.

Without reiterating the summary, I'll say that this story is brighter and more interesting than it sounds. McKenzie makes the ordinary sing.  She takes a situation that is sometimes comedic and turns it on its head to make your heart wrench.  She takes a human tragedy and turns it into an opportunity for renewal for her characters.  I love her panache!

"Forgotten" is the novel I bet many an author today wishes they'd thought of.  It's so fresh and engaging.  It reads like a charm.  I loved every minute of it.

This is one of those rare contemporary books I can recommend without reservation.  Needless to say, I'm a fan of Catherine McKenzie and will be waiting in line for her next book.  Please read this one, I know you're going to thank me if you do!

5 stars               Deborah/TheBookishDame


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