It's Monday, What are You Reading? Chase Time

It's Monday, What are You Reading? 

 

Chase Time

by Craig Van Langen

http://www.amazon.com/Chase-Time-Craig-Van-Langen-ebook/dp/B00O3VT5P8/



This post is the eighty-sixth entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]


This ebook was recommended by my daughter, Allison King, as written by a high school classmate of hers. I generally don’t read SyFy, but I enjoyed this one!



Book Description from Amazon:

Chase Dixon was a typical Midwestern teenager, just trying to get through life. That is, until his neighbor, Brenna Reid, comes home to find her mother missing—kidnapped. Now, the pair is off on a frantic rescue mission that will take them halfway around the world, trying to stay one step ahead of secretive government agents and powerful villains, to a mysterious island where they will discover secrets and horrors that will change their lives and their views of history and the world forever.




Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Saving Lincoln

It's Monday, What are You Reading? 

Saving Lincoln

by Robert Kresge

http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Lincoln-Robert-Kresge-ebook/dp/B00CR7Z20W/

This post is the eighty-fifth entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]


This is a book my wife picked out for me and loaded on my Kindle, while I was reading the Robert E. Lee biography. Amazingly, the settings, battles, etc. are very much the same. I enjoyed reading this fiction book - immediately following the Lee biography!


Book Description from Amazon:

In the closing days of the Civil War, Beth Wendland, a Union spy in Richmond, learns of a Confederate plot to send a wagon bomb to blow up the White House and kill President Lincoln and his top generals. Abandoned by her political masters, Beth must evade Rebel soldiers and the bomb's mastermind to deliver the information to Washington before the conspirators can launch their deadly attack.
Assisted by the Federal officer who loves her, Beth risks more than her life to snuff out the burning fuse of the world's first vehicle bomb and prevent disaster on the eve of victory.


Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Paul Revere

It's Monday, What are You Reading?
The Court Martial of Paul Revere:
A Son of Liberty & America’s Forgotten Military Disaster
Michael M. Greenburg

This post is the eighty-fourth entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

I was pleased today, to receive the latest book from LibraryThing, for review. I’ve read a book on Paul Revere, before, not a full bio, and this story is new to me. Looking forward to it! ;-)

Book Description from Amazon:

The riveting chronicle of Paul Revere’s only military service during the Revolution—a major but disastrous episode in his life

Amazon link to Kindle edition:
http://www.amazon.com/Court-Martial-Paul-Revere-Americas-Forgotten-ebook/dp/B00O57KIMO/

Review Comments on Back of Book Cover via Amazon:

“Michael Greenburg’s account of Paul Revere’s entanglement with the Penobscot Expedition is brilliant! Beautifully written, exhaustively researched, and judiciously fair, the book is an impressive and indispensable addition to literature on the American Revolution.”—Bernard Cornwell, author of The Fort

“A fascinating look into the life of an American legend, and a good reminder that even the greatest among us are subject to human foibles and failings.”—Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., chief of staff of the United States Army (ret.)

“Michael M. Greenburg’s deeply researched, riveting account of the Battle of Penobscot Bay is hard to put down. It sheds important new light on a little understood episode of the American Revolution, and on the character of Paul Revere, one of America’s more complex, iconic heroes.”—George C. Daughan, author of 1812: The Navy’s War and The Shining Sea

“The Court-Martial of Paul Revere is the most fascinating book that I have read in a long while. This is not the Paul Revere that you thought you knew. This Revere is pugnacious, snarky, maybe underhanded, and despite the verdict in his court-martial a poor military officer. I heartily recommend this engagingly written book to anyone who wishes to know more about Revere and the War of Independence.”—John Ferling, author of Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry that Forged a Nation



Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Book Blog Tour - Review - The Widow Smalls

Book Blog Tour

Review

The Widow Smalls and Other Stories

Jamie Lisa Forbes

It is a real pleasure to participate in this Book Blog Tour for WILLA Award winning author, Jamie Lisa Forbes, and her book “The Widow Smalls and Other Stories.”

I grew up on an Iowa farm in the 40s and 50s - a part of my heart is still there. Stories such as these just really reach out and grab me - and, they make me happy.

Publisher: Pronghorn Press (October 20, 2014)

ISBN: 978-1-932636-97-0

Category: Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Women's Fiction

Available in: Print & ebook, 231 Pages


Description of the book:

Thirty years of browbeating from rancher Bud Smalls has penned his wife, Leah, into emotional isolation.  Now Bud is gone and Leah owns the ranch, but there is no help forthcoming from Bud’s brothers who want to force her out and take the ranch for themselves.  When their attempt to humiliate her instead becomes her opportunity to succeed, Leah begins to find her way back to herself and learns how much she can gain by opening her heart.
The Widow Smalls is just one of the stories in this collection by the WILLA Award winning author of Unbroken, Jamie Lisa Forbes, who writes about the hardships of making a living from the land with an understanding that comes from first-hand experience. 
Her deftly drawn characters include star-crossed lovers, a young rancher facing his first test of moral courage, an inscrutable ranch hand claiming an impressive relative, a father making one last grasp for his daughter’s love and a child’s struggle to make sense of the world around her.   Each will pull you into the middle of their stories and keep you turning the pages.

Jamie Lisa Forbes

About Jamie Lisa Forbes:

Jamie Lisa Forbes was raised on a family ranch in southeastern Wyoming.  She graduated from the University of Colorado with honors in 1977 and then lived in Israel until 1979, when she returned to her family’s ranch and raised her own family over the next fifteen years.  Today, she writes and practices law in Greensboro, North Carolina.  She enjoys spending time with her grandsons and playing old time Appalachian fiddle.  With her Arabian horse, Cody, and her cattle dog, Reb, she still devotes part of her life to the outdoors.

Buy Widow Smalls:
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Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Book Depository
IndieBound

My Review:

Each of the stories is a good read, but the story about Leah Smalls, “The Widow Small,” is the one that I enjoyed the most. As an older person, the thoughts she processes are much like my wife and I have discussed, many times, should one or the other of us “go first.” Real-life experiences on the ranch are what I enjoy reading, along with the relationships among family members. These relationships are always filled with surprised, even though from experience we should know what to expect from these people. However, in these circumstances, when you hope they will act in your best interest, is when they act most in their self-interest - as is the case with the brothers-in-law, here. This is so very familiar… and presented in just the right tone and spirit through the story.

The addition of the Julian character adds immensely to this story, and makes it truly special. The added dimensions through her relationship with him makes this story a real winner. I can only say “Thank you” for sharing these stories with us! ;-)


The Widow Smalls Tour Schedule:

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Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Nov 3 Review & Giveaway

Pinky's Favorite Reads Nov 4 Interview & Excerpt

Inspire to Read Nov. 5 Excerpt

Cassandra M's Place Nov. 6 Review & Giveaway

Back to Books Nov. 7 Review

WV Stitcher Nov.10 Review

Dr Bill's Book Bazaar Nov. 11 Review

Deal Sharing Aunt Nov. 12 Review, Giveaway, & Excerpt

Unshelfish Nov 13 Review

Indie Re Behind the Scenes Nov 13 9 PM Eastern Live Interview

My Reading Addictions            Nov. 14 Review

Bound 4 Escape Nov. 17 Review                                               

What U Talking Bout Willis? Nov. 18 Review, Guest Post, &  Excerpt

Room With Books Nov 18 Interview & Excerpt

Manic Mama of 3 Nov 19 Review                                               

Lady in Read Nov. 20 Review

Like a Bump on a Blog Nov. 21 Review & Excerpt

Two Children and a Migraine Nov 24 Review

The Book Binder's Daughter Nov. 26 Review

Happy Reading!
Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Some Luck

It's Monday, What are You Reading? 

Some Luck

Jane Smiley

This post is the eighty-third entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]


I finally finished the almost 800 words of Robert E. Lee bio… then, got this new book from Jane Smiley on Kindle, and read it in three days! ;-)

I’ve read about a half dozen of her books, including A Thousand Acres, the Pulitzer Prizer!



Book Description from Amazon:

Publication Date: October 7, 2014

Longlisted for the 2014 National Book Award

From the winner of the Pulitzer Prize: a powerful, engrossing new novel—the life and times of a remarkable family over three transformative decades in America.

On their farm in Denby, Iowa, Rosanna and Walter Langdon abide by time-honored values that they pass on to their five wildly different children: from Frank, the handsome, willful first born, and Joe, whose love of animals and the land sustains him, to Claire, who earns a special place in her father’s heart.

Each chapter in Some Luck covers a single year, beginning in 1920, as American soldiers like Walter return home from World War I, and going up through the early 1950s, with the country on the cusp of enormous social and economic change. As the Langdons branch out from Iowa to both coasts of America, the personal and the historical merge seamlessly: one moment electricity is just beginning to power the farm, and the next a son is volunteering to fight the Nazis; later still, a girl you’d seen growing up now has a little girl of her own, and you discover that your laughter and your admiration for all these lives are mixing with tears. 

Some Luck delivers on everything we look for in a work of fiction. Taking us through cycles of births and deaths, passions and betrayals, among characters we come to know inside and out, it is a tour de force that stands wholly on its own. But it is also the first part of a dazzling epic trilogy—a literary adventure that will span a century in America: an astonishing feat of storytelling by a beloved writer at the height of her powers.


Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)

Book Blog Tour - Review - Crazy is Normal

Book Blog Tour - Review

Crazy is Normal

It is a pleasure to participate in the Book Blog Tour for Lloyd Lofthouse's "Crazy is Normal."

I love the title, I must admit.

Lloyd has provided us with a special peek into his life, for one year, as a teacher. Somehow, he managed to keep a very detailed journal for that year, and has now shared it with us in this memoir.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Publisher: Three Clover Press (June 14, 2014)
ISBN: 978-0986032851

Category: Biographies and Memoirs, Educators

Tour Date: October, 2014

Available in: Print & ebook, 386 Pages

Multi-award winning author, Lloyd Lofthouse kept a daily journal for one-full school year and that journal became the primary source of this teacher’s memoir.

“Readers who envision eager students lapping up learning led by a Tiger Teacher will be disappointed. Lofthouse presents us with grungy classrooms, kids who don’t want to be in school, and the consequences of growing up in a hardscrabble world. While some parents support his efforts, many sabotage them—and isolated administrators make the work of Lofthouse and his peers even more difficult.
Throughout this memoir, though, Lofthouse seems able to keep the hope alive that there’s a future for each student that doesn’t include jail—thanks in large part to his sixth period journalism class and its incredible editor, Amanda.” – Bruce Reeves

About Lloyd Lofthouse:

Little did Lloyd Lofthouse know in 1999, when he married Anchee Min, that he was beginning a journey of discovery. His first trip to The Middle Kingdom was on the honeymoon with his bride, who introduced him to China and Robert Hart (1835-1911), the main characters in Lloyd’s first two novels, My Splendid Concubine and Our Hart. The next decade was a journey of discovery. Lloyd now lives near San Francisco with his wife–with a second home in Shanghai, China.
Lloyd earned a BA in journalism in 1973 after fighting in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine. While working days as an English teacher, he enjoyed a second job as a maitre d’ in a multimillion-dollar nightclub. His short story, A Night at the ‘Well of Purity’ was named as a finalist for the 2007 Chicago Literary Awards. Lloyd has won 15 awards for My Splendid Concubine and 5 awards for Running With the Enemy.

Website: http://lloydlofthouse.org/

Author’s Den: http://www.authorsden.com/lloydlofthouse
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lflwriter

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lloyd-Lofthouse/168775989838050

Google+: https://plus.google.com/116728680363586998839/posts

‘Crazy Is Normal’ will be on sale for only $0.99 from October 1-November 15, 2014 on Kindle!

My Review:

As a writer myself, I was totally impressed that Lloyd Lofthouse could have kept such a complete and detailed journal as to be able to recreate this fabulous memoir of such length and complexity many years after the fact. His portrayal of life in the class room is stunning, realistic, and even a little scary. You really get the feeling you are that little "fly on the wall" - put sitting on his shoulder witnessing exactly what he experienced, day by day, in that classroom.
Some readers my find this memoir tedious reading. But, if you really want to get into the situation and understand his experience in depth, you will be enthralled by his pace and descriptions of students, administrators, and the school environment.
Lofthouse came away from this experience with very strong feelings about how education in this environment should be handled versus how it is handled in most situations. View of the video clip to understand his feelings better.

Video clip- interview:  http://youtu.be/f-C4X6f0B5g

To see what others have to say about this book, here is the schedule for the entire tour:

Crazy Is Normal Web Tour Schedule:

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Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus Oct. 1 Review & Giveaway

Inspire to Read Oct. 2  Guest Post & Excerpt

Cassandra M's Place Oct. 6 Review & Giveaway

Pinky's Favorite Reads Interview & Excerpt

Dr Bill's Book Bazaar Oct. 8 Review                                               

Being Tillys Mummy Oct 9 Guest Post & Excerpt

Unselfish Oct 13 Review                                               

Back Porchervations Oct 14 Review, Interview, & Excerpt

Sincerely Stacie            Oct. 15 Review                                               

Heck Of A Bunch Oct. 17 Review & Giveaway

Books, Books & More Books Oct 21 Review                                               

Rockin' Book Reviews Oct 22 Review, Interview, and  Excerpt

The Book Binder's Daughter Oct. 23 Review & Interview

The News in Books Oct. 29 Review & Guest Post

M. Denise Costello Oct. 30 Review & Excerpt
DWD's Reviews Oct. 31 Review

She Treads Softly Nov. 3 Review                                               

CelticLady's Reviews Nov 4 Review                                               

My Devotional Thoughts            Nov. 5 Review & Excerpt

Manic Mama of 2 Nov. 6 Review & Excerpt

Deal Sharing Aunt Nov 7 Review, Interview, & Excerpt

What U Talking Bout Willis? Nov 10 Review & Excerpt

From Isi Nov 11            Review                   
                                           
Happy Reading!
Dr. Bill  ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Remains of Innocence

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Remains of Innocence
(Joanna Brady Mysteries Book 16)
by J.A. Jance

 

This post is the eighty-second entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]


Two for One...

I always read these (Joanna Brady Mystery Books) as soon as they come out… Had a bonus this time. A novella came out a couple of weeks before the novel… we got it on Kindle, had it read by the time the novel arrived… ;-)

 

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Blue-Line-Novella-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00JOGB2GW/

Book Description from Amazon - The Old Blue Line:

Butch Dixon has been taken for a ride …
Not a jump in the car, see the sights kind of ride. He's been taken for everything he has. He's lost his house, his restaurant business, his savings, his car, his best friend, his faith—all to his conniving ex-wife. But that was seven years ago. He picked himself up, left Chicago, and started over in Peoria, Arizona, running the Roundhouse Bar and Grill. He doesn't look back on those bad years; there's no point. Not until two curious cops show up at the Roundhouse.
Faith, Butch's ex-wife, has been murdered, and the evidence points to him. Stunned, Butch quickly realizes that the black-hearted woman is going to ruin him again, from her grave. Lucky for Butch, the Old Blue Line, a group of retired—but still sharp and tenacious—former legal and law enforcement coots, have taken it upon themselves, as a favor, to make sure he doesn't cross that thin line. After the dust settles, Butch's life is again upended—when a little red-haired ball of fire, Sheriff Joanna Brady, takes a seat at his bar.

http://www.amazon.com/Remains-Innocence-Joanna-Brady-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B00G29VYKS/

Book Description from Amazon - Remains of Innocence:


Sheriff Joanna Brady must solve two perplexing cases that may be tied together in New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance’s thrilling tale of suspense that brings to life Arizona’s Cochise County and the desert Southwest in all its beauty and mystery.
An old woman, a hoarder, is dying of emphysema in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. In cleaning out her house, her daughter, Liza Machett, discovers a fortune in hundred dollar bills hidden in the tall stacks of books and magazines that crowd every corner.
Tracing the money’s origins will take Liza on a journey that will end in Cochise County, where Sheriff Joanna Brady is embroiled in a personal mystery of her own. A man she considers a family friend is found dead at the bottom of a hole in a limestone cavern near Bisbee. And now there is the mystery of Liza and the money. Are the two disparate cases connected? It’s up to Joanna to find out.


Happy Reading!

Dr. Bill  ;-)