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Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter (book review) – adultery, shaming & revenge!

Jul14

book cover of Manga Classics The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adapted by Crystal S. Chan, script by Stacy King, art by SunNeko Lee. Published by Udon/ MorpheusA husband missing at sea,
a forbidden relationship,
one parent punished, the other unknown…

As an error in judgment leads to years of being outcast, Hester must wear the scarlet A for adultery, yet refuses to unmask the father of her child.

Ask at your local library or independent bookstore for this clear retelling of the Hawthorne classic, whether you’re returning to a favorite tale or reading it for the first time.  And if The Scarlet Letter is a school assignment, read the complete original text here for free – getting the story and characters firmly in mind with this manga will make things much easier!

Yes, this book is in true manga format, like Manga Classics: Pride and Prejudice,  so start at the back (helpful refresher on format-reading there) and dive into this Puritan-era conflict between passion and society’s expectations.

How long can revenge brew without burning the soul?
**kmm

Book info: Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter /  Nathaniel Hawthorne; adapted by Crystal S. Chan, English script by Stacy King; art by SunNeko Lee. Udon Entertainment/Morpheus, 2015.  [publisher site]  [series Facebook page] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: The red A for adultery blazes upon Hester Prynne’s dark clothes, but another has a burning coal in his chest as the unwed mother bears her shame in the Puritan village alone… for now.

Hester wasn’t in love with the older scholar she married at her parents’ insistence, but after his disappearance at sea, she found happiness with another man. Pregnant and judged as a sinner, she is scorned and shunned, especially when she won’t say who Pearl’s father is.

A learned man arrives in the New England village and begins keeping company with their inspiring young pastor. As Rev. Dimmesdale becomes ill, mysterious Dr. Chillingsworth seeks secrets.

Praised for her needlework through the years, Hester is still shunned.
Growing into a lovely and rambunctious child, Pearl is thought to be evil.
Is there any escape for the repentant?

With SunNeko’s art to enhance the carefully adapted text, this true manga (read from back to front) brings new life to Hawthorne’s classic tale of love, passion, and revenge.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Travel in the elegant age as you read with your ears

Jul9

Summertime is a great time to travel the world when you download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC and read with your ears!

Download of these two free complete audiobooks begins today (Thursday, July 9th) and continues through Wednesday. Remember that you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

Ready to travel during adventurous times? Just click on the title to go to the download page (super easy to do):

CD cover of The Explorers Club by Nell Benjamin | Read by Jack Cutmore-Scott, Carson Elrod, David Furr, John Getz, Martin Jarvis, David Krumholtz, Lorenzo Pisoni, Jennifer Westfeldt, Matthew Wolf Published by L.A. Theatre WorksThe Explorers Club
by Nell Benjamin
Read by Jack Cutmore-Scott, Carson Elrod, David Furr, John Getz, Martin Jarvis, David Krumholtz, Lorenzo Pisoni, Jennifer Westfeldt, Matthew Wolf
Published by L.A. Theatre Works
In 1879 London, the male-only Explorers Club debates admitting a woman to their ranks. Full-cast audio with music includes humor and a possible international incident.

Around the World in Eighty DaysCD cover of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne | Read by Michael Prichard Published by Tantor Audio
by Jules Verne
Read by Michael Prichard<
Published by Tantor Audio

If Phileas Fogg and his valet can journey completely around the world in a mere 80 days, Fogg keeps his fortune… however, travel in the 1870s holds its fair share of perils and adventures!

Where have you traveled through stories lately?
**kmm

So many stories

Jun26

Looking through oval window into gallery at Rembrandt's house in AmsterdamGaze out?
Peer inward?
Focus on something unseen?

Art, music, and books can help us do all these things.

But please don’t let preference for favorites keep you from trying new genres and types of books!

Grab a graphic novel like Harlem Hellfighters by Max Brooks and Canaan White to go into WWI trenches with underappreciated African American heroes – these aren’t “just comic books” for sure.

Read books aimed at younger readers that can bring important issues and hard truths to light. Like Water on Stone by Dana Walrath gives voice to victims of the Armenian Holocaust.

If you think all novels about death are depressing, reconsider with funny yet realistic Finding Mr. Brightside by Jay Clark.

So, about my photo here: I visited Rembrandthuis to see how the great artist lived and worked, others were there for his paintings up close, a few were obviously dragged there by art-loving companions.

Standing in his recreated studio was decidedly worth climbing all the narrow, twisting stairways. But I was most pleased by seeing how the same etching looked when printed on different papers – the same story, with a slightly changed look.

How have you experienced different stories lately?

Staying off the tourist track in Amsterdam and meeting booklovers from all over (hi, Izzie and Mom and Dad!),
**kmm

Strong young women in WWII – free audiobooks of high prices paid

Jun18

Stories of courage, read by professionals – welcome to World War Two, through free audiobooks.

Remember that although these free complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you can listen to them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

One tale is fiction, the other is biographical, both tell stories that we must never forget.
CD cover of Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein | Read by Sasha Pick Published by Bolinda Publishing Rose Under Fire
by Elizabeth Wein
Read by Sasha Pick<
Published by Bolinda Publishing

A young American woman flying Allied transport planes is downed in Germany and must survive the infamous Ravensbrück Nazi concentration camp. A companion book to Code Name Verity.

 

Anne Frank RememberedCD cover of Anne Frank Remembered by Miep Gies, Alison Leslie Gold | Read by Barbara Rosenblat Published by Oasis Audio
by Miep Gies, Alison Leslie Gold
Read by Barbara Rosenblat
Published by Oasis Audio

The couple who sheltered Anne Frank’s family risked their lives daily for two years. Now Mies shares the story of her own life and those dangerous days in World War II.

What other tales of bravery by “everyday people” do you recommend?
**kmm

When Books Went to War, by Molly Guptill Manning (book review) – readers in WWII trenches

Jun5

book cover of When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning published by Houghton Mifflin HarcourtIn transports, tanks, and trenches,
packed into troopships and training camps,
ready to read while waiting to fight!

During World War II, librarians were determined to get books into soldiers’ hands. When publishers agreed to help, millions of pocket-sized Armed Services Editions of classics, plays, memoirs, and novels were eagerly shared by service people, sparking a reading culture that led to large participation in GI Bill higher education opportunities after the war’s end.

The ASE program also spurred the paperback publishing that we know today, you’ll learn from this fascinating book. The author provides a free excerpt here so you get a taste of her engaging prose style.

If you could only have a handful books with you during stressful times, as these fighters did, which titles would you choose?
**kmm

Book info: When Books Went to War: The Stories That Helped Us Win World War II / Molly Guptill Manning. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author video interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Fighting World War II with more than bullets and bombs, an armada of pocket-sized free books created a positive “war of ideas” and values as they were eagerly read and shared by American soldiers and sailors around the globe.

Librarians began collecting books for American troops in the war’s early days, but couldn’t gather and ship enough suitable volumes for the demand. Working with publishers and authors, a compact format reprinting of classics, popular novels, memoirs, plays and other reading material was developed, using very small print and less paper.

The program put Armed Services Editions of over 1300 separate titles into the hands of countless soldiers, sailors, and airmen during its 3-year existence, with these pocket-books being shared and shared again all over the world.

This fascinating book recounting the history of these little books of big ideas also highlights the Council on Books in Wartime’s efforts to prevent censorship of ASE titles and the impact that this program had in preparing America’s fighters to become higher education students when the war ended.

 

Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life, by PJ Hoover (book review) – pharoah in junior high?

May29

book cover of Tut My Immortal Life by PJ Hoover published by StarscapeRuling as powerful pharaoh – yay!
Becoming immortal – cool!
Stuck in middle school for eternity – ughhh!

And Tut’s forever-13-life becomes more complicated as a cult dedicated to evil god Set targets monuments in Washington DC, the general who killed his father is after him, and a mortal classmate gets involved in the hunt!

Lots of Egyptian gods hanging around the US Capitol these days, it seems…

Be sure to check out the book trailer here and the author’s website where you can visit the novel’s world in Minecraft, play games, and solve puzzles.

Would you let a friend join you in a dangerous quest?
**kmm

Book info: Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life / PJ Hoover. Starscape, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Immortal teen Tut suddenly has bigger problems than an overprotective guardian and middle school bullies as the man who killed his father centuries ago reappears as head of an evil-worship cult in present-day DC.

Rescued by the god Osiris from assassination, now Tut lives with a golden scarab heart, forever age 13. Centuries later, his middle school’s field trip turns ugly when “Tut’s Tomb” exhibit includes dark god Set, much hated by the real Tut.

Scarabs swarming everywhere, exploding obelisk monuments, and too much attention from kids at school – many eerie things are happening in Washington DC.

When the general who killed Tut’s father escapes from his eternal prison to lead Set’s followers in destruction, Tut and mortal friend Henry follow clues found by his army of tiny shabti soldiers and advisor Horus in cat form.

Can they save DC residents from this supernatural peril?
Why is Tut’s guardian hiding a deadly secret?
Will Tut have to use the last spell in The Book of the Dead  to stop Horemheb?

Egyptian gods and strange connections abound in this action-packed adventure! (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Dickens’ London comes alive with free SYNC audiobooks!

May14

Time to download this week’s free audiobooks from SYNC so you can visit London of bygone days as you read with your ears!

Remember that although these complete audiobooks are only available from Thursday through Wednesday, you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device. The free Overdrive app you need is available through the Download Prep page.

Click on each title to go directly to its download page, or bookmark the SYNC site here so you can download great audiobooks all summer long.

CD cover of Dodger by Terry Pratchett | Read by Stephen Briggs Published by HarperAudio Dodger
by Terry Pratchett
Read by Stephen Briggs
Published by HarperAudio

Dodger lives on (and below) the streets of London, encountering mad barber Sweeney Todd, writer Charles Dickens, prime minister Disraeli, and an unforgettable girl.

 

Great ExpectationsCD cover of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens | Read by Anton Lesser Published by Naxos AudioBooks
by Charles Dickens
Read by Anton Lesser
Published by Naxos AudioBooks

An anonymous benefactor enables Pip to rise from his humble beginnings as an orphan in this classic tale of a young man facing challenges and misunderstandings.

Would you want to live during this era of British history?
**kmm

W for Walrath writing Like Water On Stone (book review) – can siblings survive Armenian holocaust?

Apr27

book cover of Like Water On Stone by Dana Walrath published by Delacorte PressTied to the land, torn out by the roots,
Furrows running red, victors write the history books.
Holocaust… in Armenia?

Some Christian families fled their Armenian villages when Turkish troops ransacked their homes looking for weapons in 1915.

But Papa stayed put, believing that his Muslim neighbors will remain his friends.

Papa was wrong.

Hear the long-silent voices of the Donabedian family, speaking for all Armenian Genocide victims, as their wonderings, laments, and wishes lyrically weave through this novel-in-verse where an eagle soars from the Palu village sky through the mountains above the youngest ones as they try to find safety.

Did you know about this holocaust – which marked its 100th anniversary last week – before now?
**kmm

Book info: Like Water On Stone / Dana Walrath. Delacorte Press, 2014, paperback 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [video author interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Twin brother and sister disagree often, but when Ottoman troops attack their Armenian village, the teens follow their parents’ orders and flee over the mountains with their little sister, away from the slaughter, watched over by an eagle whose quill made music in Papa’s hands in this many-voiced verse-novel.

Shahen longs to attend school in America with his uncle; his twin sister Sosi wants to stay always in their village. Papa counts Muslims and Christians as friends, teaches Shahen to play the oud with an eagle quill. Mama shows Sosi the cooking secrets, the best ways to weave.

In 1915, soldiers arrive in Palu, searching Christian homes for guns, taking away young men, and the killing begins. Mama dresses beardless Shahen as a girl, sends him with Sosa and so-small Miriam up the mountain trail before bravely returning home.

As Ardziv the eagle watches from the sky, the young ones hide and climb and grow hungry…

Can they survive to reach a place of safety?
Will they ever be able to contact Uncle in New York?
How can lifelong neighbors turn into enemies overnight?

This novel-in-verse hauntingly revisits a little-discussed historical event and the terrors experienced by Armenians of all ages when the Ottoman Empire decided that their land and their lives were forfeit during World War I.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

H for harmonica in Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan (book review) – 3 musicians play a promise

Apr9

book cover of Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan published by ScholasticTerror as father is taken,
fear of orphan brothers being separated,
despair at losing friends and opportunities.

Three young people whose lives are terribly disrupted in the turbulent years leading into World War II find comfort in playing a harmonica with magical music and unknowingly fulfill a pleasing prophecy.

Find this wonderful spring 2015 release at your favorite local library or independent bookstore so that you can discover the intricate music this wonderful harmonica threads through lives that need it most.

Have a story of an object that connects you to history? Please share in the comments below.
**kmm

Book info: Echo / Pam Munoz Ryan. Scholastic Press, 2015.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  A harmonica crafted through magic and mystery links three young people in different countries and times as they use their musical talents to overcome terrible odds.

In 1933 Germany, Friedrich apprentices in the harmonica factory with his father and uncle, away from those who mock his facial birthmark and conducting of the music he’s heard. As the tide of Nazi fervor overtakes his sister, threatens free-thinkers like his father, and condemns the harmonica as uncivilized, the melodies that 12 year old Friedrich plays are a small consolation.

At a Pennsylvania orphanage in 1935, Mike and little Frankie are determined to stay together. When a lawyer requests ‘musical children’ specifically, the brothers find themselves in a grand mansion whose owner wants to adopt one daughter! Tragedy took music out of Mrs. Sturbridge’s life years ago – perhaps 11 year old Mike’s practice for Hoxie’s Harmonica Band auditions can make her smile again.

Ivy plays harmonica concerts for her brother Fernando before he joins the army in 1942, before Papa is hired to care for a Japanese family’s California orange groves while they are detained in internment camp. The bigger cottage is nice, but not the rundown Americanization school for Mexican children – will the fifth grader be allowed to play in the new orchestra at the main school?

“Your fate is not yet sealed.
Even in the darkest night, a star will shine,
a bell will chime, a path will be revealed.”

Bracketed by the prophecy and promise fairy tale of the harmonica’s creation, the stories of Friedrich, Michael, and Ivy playing this fabulous instrument Echo with hope, joy, and longing to ensure their families’ well-being.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

C for Cynthia Weil’s 60s NYC songwriters in I’m Glad I Did (book review) – love, music, mystery

Apr3

book cover of I'm Glad I Did by Cynthia Weil published by Soho PressMusic is her life,
every beat, every melody, every chord.
But not becoming a lawyer as family requires?
Objection!

Her 1963 summer job at a song publisher’s office is just what JJ wants – a chance to get her music heard, set with lyrics, recorded! She had no idea that race relations, romance, mystery, and unfair contracts would be part of it, too.

Take a look at all the songs that author Cynthia wrote with her musician husband, from the 60s to now (yes, they worked in the Brill Building) – so many radio and musical theater hits! She wrote 4 original lyrics for the book, too.

Listen to the first chapters in the free Recorded Books preview here, then walk with JJ away from her family’s expectations and into dream job as a songwriter.

Have you ever defied what everyone said you “ought to do” to succeed at something you loved doing?
**kmm

Book info: I’m Glad I Did / Cynthia Weil. Soho Press, 2015.   [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: JJ is sure that working for a music publisher in summer 1963 will help her write better music, but the NYC teen didn’t know she’d find love, mystery, and secrets in the Brill Building too.

Greens always become lawyers, but 16-year-old JJ doesn’t intend to follow that family rule. She’s written music forever and wants to hear hers on the radio, so what better way than a summer internship with Gold Music?

In the famous Brill Building, JJ also discovers her black-sheep Uncle Bernie, cute Luke whose late father once published music with her uncle, and former radio star Sweet Dulcie Brown, who’s overcome drug addiction and still sings so very, very well.

Luke’s lyrics plus JJ’s music with Dulcie’s soulful delivery equals the perfect demo record! Then tragedy strikes Dulcie, Luke discovers deep secrets in his father’s office papers, and time is counting down on JJ’s agreement with her parents – her song on the radio by summer’s end or she becomes a legal intern during college!

Can JJ find the right ‘singer seeks song’ match for “I’m Glad I Did” in time?
Did Uncle Bernie and Mr. Silver take advantage of Dulcie as a young black singer?
Can Luke and JJ solve Dulcie’s mystery and find a future together?

Written by multi-Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member, I’m Glad I Did  mixes early 60s radio music with the start of Civil Rights activism to create a hit single. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)