Archives

Kiss of Deception, by Mary E. Pearson (book review) – princess seeks peace, finds danger

Jul19

book cover of The Kiss of Deception by Mary E Pearson published by Henry HoltA dreaded arranged marriage,
a daring escape,
two girls on the run
with a killer on their trail!

Prepare for a galloping read across lands we’ve never seen as Lia tries to stay unnoticed in the lovely seaside town, the disguised prince seeks to know her, and the hidden assassin waits for the right moment when you grab this July 8 release at your local library or favorite independent bookstore.

Either a medieval future after failed interplanetary travel or space voyagers in the past created the setting of this great new series by the author of the well-known Jenna Fox Chronicles, which wrapped up last year with Fox Forever (my no-spoilers review here).

Marriage as a political alliance tool- yes or no?
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Book info:  Kiss of Deception (The Remnant Chronicles, book 1) / Mary E. Pearson. Henry Holt, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Escaping a kingdom-uniting marriage, 17 year old Lia finds peace in a coastal village, unaware that the jilted prince and a stealthy assassin have found her.

Indeed, the First Daughter of Morrighan lacks the Gift of prophecy required by the kingdom of Dalbreck. Piqued by her note “I should like to inspect you before our wedding day”, the prince tracks Lia and Pauline to Terravin where they’re working at aunt Berdi’s inn and poses as a young farmer in town for the religious festival.

Also on her trail are the King’s Army scouts (her father won’t forgive Lia for leaving everyone waiting in the chapel) and an assassin bent on easing a Vendan invasion of Morrighan – by eliminating any alliance with Dalbreck.

Secrets shared, secrets kept, disguises and deceit – how long until Lia falls for handsome Rafe or charming Kaden, shattering her hard-sought peace with a Kiss of Deception?  First in The Remnant Chronicle series where crumbling ruins mark the past’s spacefaring technology, and Lia’s gift of Sight may arrive much too late. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Sherlock Holmes… and his sister? Most mysterious audiobooks!

Jul17

The great sleuth himself and his younger sister Enola (what? You thought that Mycroft was Sherlock Holmes’ only sibling?) are featured in this week’s pair of audiobooks, free for you to download so you can read with your ears!

Click on each title to open the SYNC download site in a new window. Snatch up either or both of this mysterious cases from today (July 17) through Wednesday; you have free use of them as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

So hurry now, the game is afoot!

CD cover of Case of the Cryptic Crinoline By Nancy Springer Read by Katherine Kellgren Published by Recorded BooksThe Case of the Cryptic Crinoline
By Nancy Springer
Read by Katherine Kellgren
Published by Recorded Books

When her much-beloved landlady is kidnapped, Enola Holmes (yes, Sherlock’s sister) is on the case.

 

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes IICD cover of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes II By Arthur Conan Doyle Read by David Timson Published by Naxos AudioBooks
By Arthur Conan Doyle
Read by David Timson
Published by Naxos AudioBooks

A missing racehorse, masked royalty visiting 221B Baker Street, and two other famous cases, as reported by faithful friend Dr. Watson: The Engineer’s Thumb,  The Silver Band,  A Scandal in Bohemia,  and The Five Orange Pips.

What’s your favorite Holmes’ case>
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Shadow Hero, by Gene Luen Yang & Sonny Liew (book review) – Asian superhero against crime!

Jul15

book cover of The Shadow Hero by Gene Yuen Lang and Sonny Liew published by First Second BooksIn Chinatown’s dark alleys,
the ruthless tongs demand payment,
but the Green Turtle arises to protect the innocent!

Happy book birthday to The Shadow Hero, as the origins of the first Asian-American superhero are revealed!

I love this new joint effort of graphic novelists Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew – light-hearted, but underpinned with the historical accuracy which won Gene so many awards for his paired graphic novels of a pivotal time in Chinese history, Boxers and Saints (my review here) .

Get a quick look at its vintage look and action here:

The Green Turtle’s adventures continue in this short sequence published on the Tor website, too.

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Book info:  The Shadow Hero / Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew. First Second Books, 2014.  [Gene’s site]  [Sonny’s site]   [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: As a child of Chinese immigrants, Hank expected to follow family tradition, but his mother demands that he become a superhero!

When The Anchor of Justice rescues his mother from a bank robber, she won’t be satisfied until Hank reinvents himself as a superhero, instead of being a grocer like his father.

Hank discovers that intense training and a new costume certainly don’t guarantee superhero success when his attempt to save a young lady from thugs merely earns him a beating and the crime boss’s daughter rescues herself.

Fighting against the tong’s extortion has a high price for Hank’s family, yet he vows to continue, aided by the ancient Tortoise spirit from his parents’ homeland.

As the Green Turtle, Hank battles his way into the tong’s headquarters with the Tortoise spirit’s guidance. Yet the challenges he finds there would tax any superhero’s skill and resolve.

“Sometimes a fight you cannot win is still worth fighting,” counsels the spirit of the Tortoise, and Hank is in this fight until the end.

Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew transform an old comic book into this great graphic novel about the first Asian-American superhero.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Let freedom ring with free SYNC audiobooks!

Jul3

If it’s Thursday, that means two new free audiobooks from SYNC for your summertime listening enjoyment!

Be sure to download these free complete audiobooks by Wednesday, July 9th.

CD cover of Torn From Troy By Patrick Bowman Read by Gerard Doyle Published by Post Hypnotic Press Torn From Troy (download here)
By Patrick Bowman
Read by Gerard Doyle
Published by Post Hypnotic Press

Homer’s Odyssey  as seen through the eyes of 15 year old Trojan orphan Alexi, enslaved by Odysseus himself.

 

CD cover of Peter and the Starcatchers By Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson Read by Jim Dale Published by Brilliance Audio
Peter and the Starcatchers (download here)
[not available in UK or British Commonwealth]
By Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
Read by Jim Dale
Published by Brilliance Audio

This prequel to J.M. Barrie’s classic Peter Pan  sees the orphan boy and friend Molly facing pirates who want to steal the magic dust hidden aboard Peter’s ship.

Enjoy these different takes on familiar tales and characters as you read with your ears this weekend (remember that you can listen to SYNC downloads for as long as you keep them on your device or computer).

Read on and travel the world – with your ears!
**kmm

The Jedi Doth Return! by Ian Doescher (book review) – Shakespeare parses the Force, dark and light

Jul1

book cover of William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher published by Quirk BooksRescuer disguised, a comrade to free,
Jabba of the Hutt wouldst kill them all!
Luke will not from his Force-dark’nd father flee,
but seeks to free him from th’Emperor’s thrall.

O, rebel band, stay strong and share the Force
with Ewoks small, yet mighty in the fray!
A second Death Star bids to blast their world
and hidden base where freedom fighters stay.

Today marks the natal day of this final tale in Shakespeare’s Star Wars saga – seek for it at thine local library or a-favored independent bookstore.

Certes, thou hast already perused William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope (in discussion here) and well as The Empire Striketh Back (more here) – such classic stories from a galaxy far, far away…

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Book info: William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return (Star Wars Part the Sixth) / Ian Doescher; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare. Quirk Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Amid daring rescues, new allies, and the dark Emperor himself targeting attacks on the Rebellion, the Jedi Doth Return  to win Star Wars in the Bard’s own style or perish forever!

Evil Jabba of the Hutt will soon regret his refusal to release carbonite-encased Han Solo to Luke Skywalker as this iambic pentametered tale begins on  desert Tatooine.

Luke, Han, and Leia’s stealth mission on Endor’s forest moon may gain the Ewoks as new allies, but may also imperil the Rebellion’s fight against the dark Empire, as Darth Vader uses the Force to sense his son’s whereabouts.

Will Luke be swayed to the dark side of the Force by Vader’s soliloquies?
Shall Lando of Calrissian join the Rebels or stand aside?
And what of the past shared by Luke and Leia?

Do read aloud the Ewoks’ speeches and you’ll hear the almost-English of the middle 2 lines of their AABA-rhymed communications.

The concluding volume of Doescher’s epically Shakespearean take on George Lucas’ classic space opera can stand alone (especially for hardcore Star Wars devotees), but is even more enjoyable after reading William Shakespeare’s Verily, a New Hope  (Star Wars Part the Fourth) and The Empire Striketh Back  (Part the Fifth). May the verse be with you!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Sunrise, by Mike Mullin (book review) – bandits outside the walls, challenges within

Jun24

book cover of Sunrise by Mike Mullin published by TanglewoodLeadership is needed,
Hope is required,
Young people must prevail or die.

The final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy is a blockbuster! Alex and Darla have survived cannibals, bandits, the US government, and near-starvation in Ashfall  (my review here) and Ashen Winter (my review here).

Now they must organize citizens against an oncoming threat or decide to leave the townspeople to their own fate… what a burden for kids just old enough to drive.

Full disclosure: I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book since I won the right to name a character in it through the Authors for Henryville auction which raised money to rebuild school libraries after the 2012 tornado there. The character who shares my husband’s name in Sunrise is somewhat like him (not always the case where naming rights are involved – thank you, Mike); no spoiler to tell you that he dies, because many, many people die in the perpetual winter brought on by the Yellowstone supervolcano eruption, so I’m tangentially in the book as his widow.

I just discovered Darla’s Story eBook,  told from her point of view,  paralleling Alex’s narrative in Ashfall  from the supervolcano eruption to their meeting on her Iowa farm under perilous circumstances (makes this a trilogy with 3.5 books).

How well would you survive a frozen future?
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Book info: Sunrise (Ashfall Trilogy, book 3) / Mike Mullin. Tanglewood Press, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  After a year of perpetual winter, Alex and Darla face tough choices when his uncle’s farm suddenly fills with townspeople who think the armed bandit attack is a one-time problem.

Everyone is tired of subsisting on kale and frozen pork, but when refugees flood Uncle Paul’s Illinois farm after renegades attack the nearby town, it’s up to young people like Alex and Darla to find medical supplies and more food (and maybe retaliate against the aggressors).

When folks move back to town but refuse to post guards against the bloodthirsty psychopath’s brigands, Alex and Darla lead another group to establish a safer settlement, complete with greenhouses and electricity from a repurposed wind turbine.

Why is Mom staying in town instead of with Alex?
Why won’t the Mayor post guards against the next attack?
Will Alex and Darla stay alive long enough to make their love a true commitment?

This final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy pits short-sighted leaders against vicious villains, the need for community against the will to go your own way, and the unforgiving brutality of volcanic winter against the hope of love and the possibility of springtime. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Brave girls in unexpected situations – free SYNC audiobooks this week!

Jun19

A teenage spy falling in love!
An orphaned girl sent to do a boy’s farm job!
Two great stories to read with your ears this week, courtesy of AudioSYNC!

You can download either or both free audiobooks beginning today through Wednesday 25 June 2014 at the SYNC site. Then you can listen to them any time that you like,  as long as you keep those files on your computer or electronic device.

CD cover of I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I'd Have to Kill You By Ally Carter Read by Renée Raudman Published by Brillance AudioI’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You (download here – USA & Canada only)
By Ally Carter
Read by Renée Raudman
Published by Brillance Audio

Enrolled in spy school for teen girls, Cammie faces her toughest challenge yet when she falls for a regular teenage guy. (read chapter 1 here free)

 

Anne of Green Gables (download here)CD cover of Anne of Green Gables By L.M. Montgomery Read by Colleen Winton Published by Post Hypnotic Press
By L.M. Montgomery
Read by Colleen Winton
Published by Post Hypnotic Press

A plucky orphan girl brings new life to the rural Nova Scotia farm where she is mistakenly sent; the first book in the classic series (read here free).

 

Can you identify with what Cammie and Anne are facing in their new situations?
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Brave women of WWII in free SYNC audiobooks

Jun12

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC feature women who risked everything to save others from Nazi brutality and the horrors of World War II.

Download these free full-length audiobooks before Wednesday June 18, and you can listen to them for as long as you have them on your computer or electronic device.

CD cover of Code Name Verity By Elizabeth Wein Read by Morven Christie & Lucy Gaskell Published by Bolinda AudioCode Name Verity  (download here)
By Elizabeth Wein
Read by Morven Christie & Lucy Gaskell
Published by Bolinda Audio

Captured by the Gestapo when their  plane crashes in occupied France, young British spy Queenie survives her friend Maddie, but for how long?

CD cover of The Hiding Place By Corrie ten Boom, John Sherrill & Elizabeth Sherrill Read by Bernadette Dunne Published by Christian Audio
The Hiding Place (download here)
By Corrie ten Boom, John Sherrill & Elizabeth Sherrill
Read by Bernadette Dunne
Published by Christian Audio

The memoir of Dutch Resistance heroine who helped many Jews escape from the Nazis and later became a noted evangelist.

Such tales of bravery against terrible odds! Which one will you download first?
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Orleans, by Sherri L. Smith (book review) – post-hurricanes, Delta Fever rules

Jun7

book cover of Orleans by Sherri L. Smith published by GP Putnam's SonsCategory 6 hurricane blasts New Orleans,
incurable blood disease rampant,
the Gulf Coast states excised from the USA.

In 2056, Fen tries to remember everything that her scientist-parents taught her before Delta Fever felled them, like countless thousands after Hurricane Jesus (which made Katrina look like a mild breeze) – but will it be enough?

Get a taste of Fen’s life in the free short story “Orleans: Carnivale” here, then look for the 2013 hardcover or recently released paperback to travel deep into dangerous Orleans, one of my #weneeddiversebooks 48-hour Reading Challenge favorites this year.

As Sherri wrote in my copy of the book, “Tribe is life” – it’s up to Fen to ensure her tribe’s survival now.

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Book info:  Orleans / Sherri L. Smith. G.P. Putnams’ Sons, 2013 (hardcover); Speak, 2014 (paperback). [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Carrying the hope of her tribe in 2056’s death-dealing Louisiana swamps, Fen will leverage any advantage to ensure their survival, including an outsider scientist’s misguided help.

In drowned New Orleans, descendants of mega-hurricane survivors live and die in tribes based on blood type to slow the incurable Delta Fever’s mutations. After an ambush, only Fen and Lydia’s baby remain of the O-Positive tribe. She must get that baby over The Wall before Delta Fever gets into her blood!

Scientists in the Outer States still seek a cure for Delta Fever; Daniel has found it. To test the cure, he sneaks into the Separated lands in a quarantine suit, hoping to survive long enough to see the results.

When blood farmers capture them, Fen and Daniel work to escape so they can get Baby Girl over The Wall… at least, that’s what Fen plans.

This ecological disaster adventure from the author of Flygirl  tests the boundaries of trust and humanity as surely as the soldiers guarding The Wall will shoot anyone trying to leave the Delta. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

After the End, by Amy Plum (book review) – what war? what secrets?

May6

book cover of After the End by Amy Plum published by HarperTeenIn World War III‘s aftermath,
only one clan survives,
deep in Alaska’s wilderness…
but it’s all a lie.

Told in alternating chapters by Juneau and Miles, this roadtrip adventure with paranormal underpinnings and dueling Big Pharma teams as pursuers is first in a two-book series by the author of Die For Me (my review of If I Die series volume 1 here).

Today is the book birthday of After the End, so ask for it at your local library or favorite independent bookstore and hit the road with two unlikely allies (don’t forget the PopTarts).
**kmm

Book info:  After the End / Amy Plum. HarperTeen, 2014. [author site]  [publisher site]  [author video introducing After the End] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When her clan is taken, Juneau must enter a modern world she thought was destroyed and convince a rebellious teen guy to help her find them while staying clear of the kidnappers.

Juneau can Read glimpses of the future through the Yara in everything, but now the 17-year-old sage in training must grapple with the lies her clan’s adults taught about fleeing World War III’s devastation by settling in the Alaskan wilderness 30 years ago.

Kinda-sorta hijacked into a road trip with this crazy survivalist girl, Miles plans to bring Juneau to Blackwell Pharmaceutical and get back into his dad’s good graces, but then…

Zigzagging from Mount Rainier to Salt Lake City, pursued by her former mentor and his dad’s goons, Juneau and Miles try to unravel cryptic prophecies in a race to find her father and her clan whose members never get sick, never grow old.  First in a two book series. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)