Tag Archive | villains

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…

**kmm

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)

Twelve Minutes to Midnight, by Christopher Edge (book review) – visions of future – lunacy or conspiracy?

Jun29

book cover of Twelve Minutes to Midnight by Christopher Edge published by Albert WhitmanWriting, scrawling, jotting,
visions of the future, horrifying and violent,
every lunatic in Bedlam writing down their dreams,
every
single
one.

As writer of eerie tales Penelope investigates the startling claim that every inmate in Bedlam is dreaming of future events, the teen must be accompanied by the actor she’s been forced to hire for public appearances of Montgomery Flinch, her nom de plume.

A big thank you to publisher Albert Whitman for bringing this popular British series to the States – next is Shadows of the Silver Screen,  wherein Penny and Monty face danger from a producer of those newfangled moving pictures.

**kmm

Book info:  Twelve Minutes to Midnight (Penelope Tredwell series, book 1) / Christopher Edge. Albert Whitman & Company, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: In 1899 London, Penelope writes eerie stories to keep her late father’s newspaper alive, while all of Bedlam’s lunatics suddenly dream of the future. The thirteen year old investigates the Midnight Writings, placing her chaperone and The Penny Dreadful  in terrible danger!

Only with the actor she’s hired to portray her pen name in public can Penny go to Bedlam after reports that all inmates begin writing down their dreams at precisely 12 minutes before midnight. As the young lady and Montgomery Flinch view astounding visions of the future written on cell walls, clothing, and even the inmates’ own skin, they realize that some outside force is causing this.

As 1899 draws to a close, Penny and Monty hear that widowed Lady Cambridge may have clues to this mystery. Of course, the writer of London’s most hair-raising adventures must interview the reclusive widow (with Monty as chaperone).

The Midnight Papers disappear from a locked room in Bedlam, strange boxes vanish from the Natural History Museum, and a rival newspaper’s reporter is suspicious of Monty’s actual writing talents while a poisonous danger is luring Penny into its web!

First in the Penelope Tredwell series, Twelve Minutes to Midnight  is followed by Shadows of the Silver Screen.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

 

 

 

Can better things come from darkest days? SYNC audiobooks listen in…

Jun26

This week’s free audiobooks from SYNC examine deep and dark secrets, looking for hope.

Please download either or both of these complete audiobooks at no cost from today through Wednesday July 3, 2014.

Then you can read with your ears whenever you like, as long as you keep them on your computer or electronic device.

CD cover of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock, By Matthew Quick Read by Noah Galvin Published by Hachette AudioForgive Me, Leonard Peacock  (download here)
By Matthew Quick
Read by Noah Galvin
Published by Hachette Audio

On his 18th birthday, Leonard says goodbye to 4 special friends as he plans to kill himself and his former best friend.

 

CD cover of October Mourning, By Lesléa Newman Read by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl, Kate Rudd, & Christina Traister Published by Brilliance AudioOctober Mourning: a Song for Matthew Shepard  (download here)
By Lesléa Newman
Read by Emily Beresford, Luke Daniels, Tom Parks, Nick Podehl,  Kate Rudd, & Christina Traister
Published by Brilliance Audio

Newman commemorates the life of Matthew, a gay student at the University of Wyoming who was brutally beaten and killed in 1998, through this novel’s 68 poems.

Stories worth telling, books worth listening to!
**kmm

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?
**kmm

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?
**kmm

Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History, by Joel Christian Gill (book review) – graphic novel

Jun15

book cover of Strange Fruit by Joel Christian Gill published by Fulcrum BooksA cycling champion,
a chessmaster,
a marshal who memorized arrest warrants –
lives of purpose whose stories are rarely told.

Nine “Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History” come to life through Joel Christian Gill’s unique art in this graphic novel, originally a series of mini-comics.

Gill took the name for his comic series from Abel Meerpol’s “Strange Fruit” about lynchings in the South, hauntingly performed by Billie Holiday.

Ask for Strange Fruit at your local library or independent bookstore – they may have to order this June 3rd #diversebooks release, but it’ll be worth the wait.

Any suggestions for Gill to include in volume 2?

**kmm

Book info: Strange Fruit, Volume 1: Uncelebrated Narratives from Obscure Black History / Joel Christian Gill.  Fulcrum Books, 2014. [author blog]  [publisher site]  [video interview] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Seven outstanding men and two groundbreaking institutions are featured in this graphic novel of little-told stories from African-American history.

Included are lawman Bass Reeves, who arrested 3,000 dangerous criminals during his 30-year career in Indian Territory, and Marshall “Major” Taylor, the Black Cyclone, fastest cyclist in the world in 1899, first black champion in any sport.

Henry “Box” Brown escaped from slavery by being packed in a crate for 27-hour wagon journey. The Noyes Academy in New England (1835) was the first integrated school, but townspeople drove them out.

From the original black pro basketball star to a magician’s greatest illusion, become more familiar with these lives which made a positive difference, despite prejudice.

The Taking, by Kimberly Derting (book review) – aliens or the government: who’s the enemy?

Jun13

book cover of The Taking by Kimberly Derting published by HarperTeenAbducted by aliens,
Awakening in her hometown years later,
What’s different, except everything?

Kyra can’t remember anything about the past 5 years, except that flash of light. She’s stayed 16, everyone else has grown older – is that why the National Security Agency wants to take her away?

Read the first chapters of The Taking  here for free (gotta love publishers who do this!) and you’ll be itching to discover why Kyra was taken and what happens next.

**kmm

Book info: The Taking (The Taking, book 1) / Kimberly Derting. HarperTeen, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]   Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Returned to her hometown five years later but not one day older, Kyra struggles with changes in family and friends, but must flee when government agents try to imprison her.

Her high school classmates are now in college, her parents divorced, her mom remarried (a baby brother? after all this time?). No one truly believes that she can’t remember anything about the time she was gone, no one except her dad and her boyfriend’s younger brother; Kyra has stayed 16 for five years and Tyler has finally caught up with her.

The aliens took her memories, leaving her with super-fast reflexes, amazing strength, and ability to heal in mere moments – but did they leave her anything else?

On the run from National Security agents who want to experiment on her, Kyra and Tyler are trying to get to a safe place … if there is one. First in new paranormal/ sci-fi series. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

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?
**kmm

Target Practice, by Mike Maihack (book review) – Cleopatra in Space! Talking cats! Alien war!

Jun11

book cover of Target Practice: Cleopatra in Space #1 by Mike Maihack published by GraphixGood aim, quick reflexes,
sneaking out of class,
yes, Cleo is sure the rules don’t apply to her!

We all know about Cleopatra as queen of Egypt, but imagine her teen years – with time travel and intergalactic war and talking cats as teachers (yes, 15 year olds in the future have to go to school…)

Sample this action-packed graphic novel here free (thanks, Mike!), then head to your local library or independent bookstore for the rest of the tale.

Alas, we’ll have to wait until April 2015 for the second in this #diversebooks series: The Thief and the Story.

So, alternate history – thumbs up or thumbs down?

**kmm

Book info: Target Practice (Cleopatra in Space #1)  / text and art by Mike Maihack. Graphix, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Curiosity sends Cleopatra from ancient Egypt to outer space where the teen is hailed as savior of the galaxy – if she survives training school!

If she hadn’t slipped away from boring algebra (does a queen really need math?) for slingshot practice with her pal Gozi, then 15-year-old Cleopatra wouldn’t have found the old temple or the glowing tablet there which transported her from the ancient Nile Valley to the future, where talking cats explain her prophesied arrival.

At Yasiro Academy, Cleo learns alien languages (yawn), algebra (snore), and target practice (ray guns!) as she prepares for intergalactic war against Xerx who is capturing all knowledge stored electronically – and their sector is next!

First graphic novel in the Cleopatra in Space series, Target Practice  shows the young queen-to-be facing danger from school dances, warring aliens, and her own impetuous nature.   (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Shelter, by Patricia H. Aust (book review) – escaping Dad’s abuse…maybe

Jun9

book cover of Shelter by Patricia Aust published by Luminis BooksDad in dictator mode,
Family can never do anything right,
Bam! The abuse begins again…

While machismo may be the norm for Puerto Rican men on the island and in the US, Miguel’s dad inflicts mental and physical abuse on his family, plain and simple.

A great #diversebook from my 48 Hour Reading Challenge last weekend – ask for Shelter at your local library or favorite independent bookstore. In memory of its author, the publisher is donating part of the royalties to the women’s shelter where she volunteered before her death in 2012.

Share Miguel’s story with others once you’ve finished – for some it will be interesting information; for others it will be the hope and knowledge that they need to escape family violence.

**kmm

Book info: Shelter / Patricia H. Aust. Luminis Books, 2014.  [author obituary]   [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When Mom can’t take Dad’s abuse any more and escapes with Miguel and his big sister to a shelter, the teen is certain that his father won’t rest until he finds them.

Every detail of family life must be done exactly as Dad demands, or else! At first, Mom could keep the bruises hidden when she went to work, but not this broken jaw.

Fleeing to the women’s shelter is just the first step for Mom, Ellie, and Miguel – restraining orders, new cellphones, getting off the camp bus two stops early so the shelter location isn’t known, going to court.

But Ellie’s boyfriend Diego isn’t any happier with her being gone than Dad is that his family disappeared – even in Connecticut, no piece of paper should come between a Puerto Rican man and his woman!

During this anxious summer in another town, Miguel has to decide if he must always be in control like Dad or will follow his tae kwan do instructor’s teachings and become a honorable man.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)