The dogs have spoken. Or barked. Or actually, they kind of snarfed.
Anyway.
Two winners, and I’m sorry for the delay in announcing.
FRAN won a copy of The Jesus Cow
ANNE won a copy of Let Me Die in His Footsteps
(The rafflecopter giveaways on other titles are not administered by me.)
More giveaways are coming later this week.
Happy reading!
She was the spirited daughter of a North Carolina plantation owner, and he was a poor fisherman who she tutored on the porch of her family’s Nags Head cottage. When we last saw Abigail Sinclair and Ben Whimble at the close of The Outer Banks House, they’d overcome their differences in life stations and defied convention to begin their new life together.
But now it’s seven years later, and Return to the Outer Banks House finds the couple married and in hard times—riddled by poverty, miscarriages, and weakened family ties. The strong bonds that once held them together have eroded over time, and their marriage threatens to unravel, particularly when relationships from the past and ambitions for the future find their way into the mismatched couple’s present predicament.
Can their love survive? Or are the challenges they face insurmountable? Return to the Outer Banks House carries readers back to 1875 to answer these questions and explore the ebb and flow of a rocky marriage set against the enchanting North Carolina shoreline. Replete with history, intrigue, and plenty of maritime drama, it’s an evocative tale of struggle in the Reconstruction-era South.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
Diann was born in Indiana in 1971, but she spent the majority of her childhood in Newport News, Virginia. She majored in English literature at the University of Virginia, but she never wrote creatively until, after the birth of her second child in 2003, she sat down to write The Outer Banks House. She soon followed up with her second book, Chasing Eternity, and in 2015 the sequel to her first novel, Return to the Outer Banks House.
Diann has vacationed on the Outer Banks since the age of three. She even married her husband of 10 years, Sean Ducharme, in Duck, North Carolina, immediately after a stubborn Hurricane Bonnie churned through the Outer Banks. Conveniently, the family beach house in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina provided shelter while she conducted research for her historical fiction novels.
She has three beach-loving children and a border collie named Toby, who enjoys his sprints along the shore. The family lives in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, counting down the months until summer.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads
In Return to the Outer Banks House, Diann Ducharme brings us back to Nag’s Head seven years after we first met Abigail and Ben in The Outer Banks House, but this novel, set against the Reconstruction of the South is also about the deconstruction of a marriage. The lovers from the first novel have gone through so much, that it’s actually pretty realistic that their relationship is strained, and I applaud the author for writing such an open, honest story, and trusting that we readers will get it.
At the same time, though, the ultimate resolution of Abbie and Ben’s issues is a sad one, and comes as a bitter blow after all the love and hope that existed between them in the first novel. Ducharme does give us a secondary character to follow, Eliza, replete with her own love story, but while she’s an interesting character, it’s not quite the same, and I felt like the whole tone of this book was a subdued one.
Still, it was a great read, even if the ending wasn’t what I expected. Ducharme’s descriptions of the land and sea and sky are almost photo-realistic, and this novel is almost worth it just to get to read more of that. As well, she continues to excel at writing dialogue that feels both natural and period at the same time, using dialect effectively to show differences in class, status, and origin.
This novel can be read alone, but is much more effective, and makes more sense, if you read The Outer Banks House first, though, now that I’ve written that, I wonder if the focus would be more on Eliza, and the readerly response a bit brighter if it’s read as a standalone, without the investment in Abigail and Ben as the primary couple in the tale. Something to ponder, I suppose.
Again, this novel takes place at the shore, but it isn’t at all a typical “beach read,” and I believe it will appeal both to casual readers and those who prefer more literary fiction.
Goes well with fresh caught fish, homegrown tomatoes, and sweet corn.
Monday, May 25
Spotlight & Giveaway at Raven Haired Girl
Tuesday, May 26
Guest Post & Giveaway at Susan Heim on Writing
Wednesday, May 27
Review (Book One) at Back Porchervations
Thursday, May 28
Review (Book One) at In a Minute
Friday, May 29
Interview & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Obsession
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book
Saturday, May 30
Spotlight at Becky on Books
Sunday, May 31
Review (Book One) at Book Nerd
Monday, June 1
Review (Book Two) at Let them Read Books
Spotlight at I’d So Rather Be Reading
Tuesday, June 2
Review (Book One) at Book Lovers Paradise
Wednesday, June 3
Review (Book Two) at Back Porchervations
Thursday, June 4
Spotlight & Giveaway (Book One) at View from the Birdhouse
Friday, June 5
Review (Both Books) at Bibliotica
Sunday, June 7
Review (Book One) at Carole’s Ramblings
Monday, June 8
Review (Book One) at Ageless Pages Reviews
Guest Post at Curling Up With A Good Book
Tuesday, June 9
Review & Giveaway (Book One) at A Literary Vacation
Wednesday, June 10
Review (Both Books) at Unshelfish
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews
Thursday, June 11
Review (Book Two) at Book Lovers Paradise
Interview at Boom Baby Reviews
Friday, June 12
Spotlight at Caroline Wilson Writes
Sunday, June 14
Review (Book Two) at Carole’s Ramblings
Monday, June 15
Review & Giveaway (Both Books) at Genre Queen
Tuesday, June 16
Interview at Books and Benches
Spotlight at The Lit Bitch
Wednesday, June 17
Review (Both Books) at Luxury Reading
Thursday, June 18
Review (Book One) at Books and Benches
Interview at Layered Pages
Friday, June 19
Review (Book One) at Build a Bookshelf
Review (Book Two) at Ageless Pages Reviews
Holly Newbury’s life is on hold in the cozy English village of Chilton Crosse. While her friends are marrying, having children, and embarking on successful careers, Holly is raising her three younger sisters and working part time at the village art gallery. Her life feels incomplete, but family is more important to her than anything. Then a film crew’s arrival galvanizes the community, and Holly becomes fast friends with Fletcher Hays, the movie’s love-shy American writer.
The production of an Emma film isn’t the only drama in town, though. Their father makes a choice that threatens everything she gave up her dreams for. Holly’s sisters endure growing pains. And Fletcher plans to return to America as soon as filming is over, ruining any chance of their relationship blossoming further. After years of sacrificing for others, Holly must find the courage to take a risk on a future she never dared to expect.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Goodreads
Traci Borum is a writing teacher and native Texan. She’s also an avid reader of women’s fiction, most especially Elin Hilderbrand and Rosamunde Pilcher novels. Since the age of 12, she’s written poetry, short stories, magazine articles, and novels.
Traci also adores all things British. She even owns a British dog (Corgi) and is completely addicted to Masterpiece Theater–must be all those dreamy accents! Aside from having big dreams of getting a book published, it’s the little things that make her the happiest: deep talks with friends, a strong cup of hot chocolate, a hearty game of fetch with her Corgi, and puffy white Texas clouds always reminding her to “look up, slow down, enjoy your life.”
I fell in love with the first Chilton Crosse novel, Painting the Moon, when I read it last year, so when Traci Borum asked me if I’d read and review her newest book, Finding the Rainbow, I was delighted to do so.
It was so nice to visit Borum’s fictional English village again, to hang out with the locals at the pub (the owners are trying to get pregnant, when we first catch up with them), and to meet this book’s main character, Holly. I really liked her as a character, and I’d have loved to hang out with her, though I confess that I am more than a little jealous of her Hideaway Cottage, the playhouse she’s turned into a reading sanctuary. Seriously, every woman needs a room like that (although mine would have wifi).
I also enjoyed meeting Holly’s family – her three sisters, her father – Frank the gallery owner who has a ‘thing’ for Holly was another great character. And Fletcher (one of my favorite names) , the writer of the movie filming in town is a wonderful addition both to Holly’s life, and the village itself.
Here’s what I love about Traci Borum’s work: under anyone else’s pen, this story would be simperingly sweet, and drenched in lace. But Borum puts in the layers, the nuances, the dimensional personalities, the pipe dreams, and the promises that make her characters feel like real people, and the village of Chilton Crosse feel like a real place. When she writes a domestic scene – like the sisters having breakfast in the early part of the book, Borum shows off her talent for dialogue and comic timing, but when she then has to convey emotion – unrequited love, flat out lust – of a different kind, she does so with grace and deftness.
Reading Finding the Rainbow may not lead you to a pot of gold, but it might lead you to brew a pot of tea and revel in peace and silence for a while.
Goes well with: Hot tea, buttered currant scones, and a soft rainshower.
This blog post brought to you courtesy of Red Adept publishing. See the whole tour page HERE.
When Krissy Hancock and her best friend Vicki decide to open a bookstore café in their new town of Pine Hills, they decide to call it “Death by Coffee,” after Krissy’s father’s most famous mystery novel. Little do they know how well the name fits…
On their very first day of business, Brendon Lawyer huffily takes his coffee…to the grave. It seems he had a severe allergy to peanuts…but how could there have been nuts in his coffee? And who stole his emergency allergy medication?
Fortunately, Krissy’s love of puzzles and mysteries leads her not only to Officer Paul Dalton, but also to many of her new neighbors, who aren’t terribly upset that the book is closed on Brendon. But one of them is a killer, and Krissy needs to read between the lies if she wants to save her new store—and live to see how this story ends…
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
Alex Erickson has always wanted to write, even at a young, impressionable age. He’s always had an interest in the motive behind murder, which has led him down his current path. He’s always ready with a witty—at least in his opinion—quip, and tries to keep every conversation light and friendly. Alex lives in Ohio with his family and resident felines, who provide endless amounts of inspiration.
Every so often, I search NetGalley for books with ‘beach’ or ‘coffee’ in the titles or descriptions, because when I’m looking for escapist reading, that’s what I like to read about most.
Last month, such a search led me to Death by Coffee, the first entry in the Bookstore Cafe Mystery series by Alex Erickson, and it was as if this book had been written for me. The only thing that would have made it better is if Krissy’s pet was a stubborn dog instead of an evil cat, but what’s a fictional pet among friends, right?
I didn’t have a chance to dive into the novel until last weekend, but it was the perfect thing to read on a weekend when it was too hot to do anything but move from one air conditioned room to the next and maybe out to the pool and back. (Actually, it would also be the perfect thing to read on a rainy weekend, or a humid Thursday afternoon, or even a slow Tuesday night, but…I digress.)
I loved the concept of two women opening a bookstore/cafe as a way to escape from their existing lives and also make a living. I was immediately engaged in Krissy’s story – daughter of a famous mystery novelist, reeling from a romance gone wrong – these are common tropes that could feel cliche in another writer’s hands, but author Alex Erickson makes his main character so real, so vulnerable, that I couldn’t help but root for her. I wanted her business to do well. I wanted her to fall for the hunky cop (and have him fall for her as well.) More importantly, I wanted her to solve the murder of Brendon Lawyer.
While there was an element of Death by Coffee that was obviously setting up an entire series of books, I knew that going in, so it didn’t feel like there was too much backstory, or too much exposition. Erickson did a masterful job in creating a small town and the citizens who live in it, some apparently normal, others decidedly not, and I was strongly reminded of many of the small towns I’ve either lived in or visited over the years.
If you love books, coffee, and cozy mysteries, you will, as I did, find yourself hooked on Death by Coffee.
Goes well with: a grande flat white and a chocolate chip cookie. Obviously.
What if you realized the terrifying book you were reading was all about you?
A brilliantly conceived, deeply disturbing psychological thriller about a woman haunted by secrets—and the price she will pay for concealing the truth.
When a mysterious novel appears at Catherine Ravenscroft’s bedside, she is curious. She has no idea who might have sent her The Perfect Stranger—or how it ended up on her nightstand. At first, she is intrigued by the suspenseful story that unfolds.
And then she realizes.
This isn’t fiction.
The Perfect Stranger re-creates in vivid, unmistakable detail the day Catherine became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew—and that person is dead.
Now that the past Catherine so desperately wants to forget is catching up with her, her world is falling apart. Plunged into a living nightmare, she knows that her only hope is to confront what really happened on that terrible day . . . even if the shocking truth may destroy her.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
Renée Knight worked for the BBC directing arts documentaries and has had TV and film scripts commissioned by the BBC, Channel Four, and Capital Films. In April 2013, she graduated from the Faber Academy “Writing a Novel” course, whose alumni include S. J. Watson. She lives in London with her husband and two children.
From the very first page, I was absolutely hooked on this story, which is told partly in flashbacks to two years before the novel’s ‘present’ and in alternating viewpoints of Catherine and someone else. (Spoilers, sweeties! I can’t be more specific than that.) It begins with Catherine being a bit unsettled about something – we quickly learn it’s a book she’s been reading – and the suspense builds from there, and keeps building to the end of the novel.
The plot is what makes a thriller, of course, but without compelling characters, even the best plot remains flat. In our primary POV character, Catherine, author Renee Knight has given us an interesting, complex woman who is keeping secrets that are agonizing her. Knight does an excellent job of depicting the guilt, the pain, and the longing to just tell the truth that Catherine feels, but she’s also surrounded this woman with equally dimensional characters who react to her apparent behavior oblivious to what is going on inside her mind. It’s a tricky balancing act, making sure no one else knows what Catherine does, making sure no one really sees into her head, but Knight pulls it off with aplomb.
If I had to pick one word to describe Disclaimer, I would choose “cinematic,” because this novel feels like it would translate to the screen incredibly well. The author directs documentaries and writes film scripts, so perhaps she’s used to seeing things from a camera’s perspective, but I felt like every scene break would have been a perfect cut, and the pace of the novel is perfect for a movie theater experience.
If you want a fast paced thriller with real emotional impact, read Disclaimer. You won’t be disappointed.
Goes well with: a club sandwich, fresh coleslaw, and a vanilla cream soda.
Tuesday, May 19th: Booksie’s Blog
Thursday, May 21st: Kissin Blue Karen
Friday, May 22nd: A Bookworm’s World
Monday, May 25th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Tuesday, May 26th: Man of La Book
Wednesday, May 27th: Booked on a Feeling
Thursday, May 28th: Staircase Wit
Friday, May 29th: JulzReads
Monday, June 1st: Book Hooked Blog
Tuesday, June 2nd: Kritters Ramblings
Wednesday, June 3rd: Ace and Hoser Blook
Thursday, June 4th: Ms.Bookish.com
Tuesday, June 9th: Bibliotica – That’s Me!
Wednesday, June 10th: Novel Escapes
Thursday, June 11th: Doing Dewey
Thursday, June 11th:From the TBR Pile
Friday, June 12th: The Well-Read Redhead
Monday, June 15th: Mockingbird Hill Cottage
On a dark Kentucky night in 1952 exactly halfway between her fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays, Annie Holleran crosses into forbidden territory. Everyone knows Hollerans don’t go near Baines, not since Joseph Carl was buried two decades before, but, armed with a silver-handled flashlight, Annie runs through her family’s lavender fields toward the well on the Baines’ place. At the stroke of midnight, she gazes into the water in search of her future. Not finding what she had hoped for, she turns from the well and when the body she sees there in the moonlight is discovered come morning, Annie will have much to explain and a past to account for.
It was 1936, and there were seven Baine boys. That year, Annie’s aunt, Juna Crowley, with her black eyes and her long blond hair, came of age. Before Juna, Joseph Carl had been the best of all the Baine brothers. But then he looked into Juna’s eyes and they made him do things that cost innocent people their lives. Sheriff Irlene Fulkerson saw justice served–or did she?
As the lavender harvest approaches and she comes of age as Aunt Juna did in her own time, Annie’s dread mounts. Juna will come home now, to finish what she started. If Annie is to save herself, her family, and this small Kentucky town, she must prepare for Juna’s return, and the revelation of what really happened all those years ago.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads
Lori Roy was born and raised in Manhattan, Kansas where she graduated from Kansas State University. Her debut novel, BENT ROAD, published in 2011, was awarded the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Novel by an American Author, named a 2011 New York Times Notable Crime Book and named a 2012 notable book by the state of Kansas. BENT ROAD has been optioned for film. Her second novel, UNTIL SHE COMES HOME, was named a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and was nominated for an Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Novel. Her upcoming novel, LET ME DIE IN HIS FOOTSTEPS, will be published June 2nd. Lori also serves as treasure for the Sisters in Crime organization and is a liaison to the Author Coalition. She currently lives with her family in west central Florida.
The problem with books like Let Me Die in His Footsteps is that they’re so well-crafted, and the characters are so vivid, that you want tell everyone you know, “Read this book. It’s amazing.” But because the plot is so delicately woven – a perfect combination of Southern historical fiction, coming-of-age drama, and murky mystery – you don’t want to spoil it for anyone. This is a book you need to come to with a fresh palate. This is a novel you need to experience without any preconceived notions of what it’s about.
So, here’s what I will say: Lori Roy is a talent to be reckoned with. From the first scene on the opening page, to the very last line of the novel, I was hooked. I fell into the rhythm of her words, and let myself be submerged in this story, and when I finished it, I was almost surprised to find myself at home in suburban Texas, and not in a Kentucky farmhouse surrounded by lavender fields. It’s that gripping. It’s that atmospheric. It’s that good.
I wanted to get to the end of Let Me Die in His Footsteps, because I wanted to now how the story resolved itself.
I hated reaching the end, because it meant leaving Lori Roy’s rich tapestry of a world.
Goes well with: A dish of coffee ice cream and a glass of cool water, eaten while sitting in a chair that’s far too big, in the wee hours of a sultry summer night.
If you live in the USA or Canada, and want to win a copy of Let Me Die in His Footsteps, comment on this post and tell me about your first kiss. Alternatively, find my post about this review on twitter (I’m @melysse) and retweet it. (Be sure to follow me if you do that.)
Winners will be notified by email before they’re announced NEXT MONDAY, and you have until 11:59 PM CDT on Sunday night to enter. Be sure the email address in your comment is a valid one (only I will see it.)
Tuesday, May 19th: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Wednesday, May 20th: Kissin’ Blue Karen
Thursday, May 21st: FictionZeal
Tuesday, May 26th: Feminist Reflections
Wednesday, May 27th: Sweet Southern Home
Monday, June 1st: Joyfully Retired
Tuesday, June 2nd: For the Love of Fictional Worlds
Wednesday, June 3rd: Bell, Book & Candle
Wednesday, June 3rd: The Bibliophile Chronicles
Thursday, June 4th: Reading Reality
Monday, June 8th: Bibliotica – That’s Me!
Monday, June 8th: Books a La Mode
Tuesday, June 9th: Bibliophiliac
Wednesday, June 10th: A Reader’s Oasis
Thursday, June 11th: A Book Geek
Friday, June 12th: The Novel Life
Publisher: Crown Publishing (June 8, 2010)
Formats: Ebook, Hardcover, Paperback (291 pages)
As the wounds of the Civil War are just beginning to heal, one fateful summer would forever alter the course of a young girl’s life.
In 1868, on the barren shores of post-war Outer Banks North Carolina, the once wealthy Sinclair family moves for the summer to one of the first cottages on the ocean side of the resort village of Nags Head. Seventeen-year-old Abigail is beautiful, book-smart, but sheltered by her plantation life and hemmed-in by her emotionally distant family. To make good use of time, she is encouraged by her family to teach her father’s fishing guide, the good-natured but penniless Benjamin Whimble, how to read and write. And in a twist of fate unforeseen by anyone around them, there on the porch of the cottage, the two come to love each other deeply, and to understand each other in a way that no one else does.
But when, against everything he claims to represent, Ben becomes entangled in Abby’s father’s Ku Klux Klan work, the terrible tragedy and surprising revelations that one hot Outer Banks night brings forth threaten to tear them apart forever.
With vivid historical detail and stunning emotional resonance, Diann Ducharme recounts a dramatic story of love, loss, and coming of age at a singular and rapidly changing time in one of America’s most beautiful and storied communities.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Crown Publishing | IndieBound | Goodreads
Diann was born in Indiana in 1971, but she spent the majority of her childhood in Newport News, Virginia. She majored in English literature at the University of Virginia, but she never wrote creatively until, after the birth of her second child in 2003, she sat down to write The Outer Banks House. She soon followed up with her second book, Chasing Eternity, and in 2015 the sequel to her first novel, Return to the Outer Banks House.
Diann has vacationed on the Outer Banks since the age of three. She even married her husband of 10 years, Sean Ducharme, in Duck, North Carolina, immediately after a stubborn Hurricane Bonnie churned through the Outer Banks. Conveniently, the family beach house in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina provided shelter while she conducted research for her historical fiction novels.
She has three beach-loving children and a border collie named Toby, who enjoys his sprints along the shore. The family lives in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia, counting down the months until summer.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Goodreads
While I’ve never been to either of the Carolinas (both are on my bucket list, I swear) I did have a blissful childhood full of summers at the Jersey Shore, so I know the pleasures – and the pain – of living on the Atlantic seaboard, and I even have some experience with the special geography of barrier islands, which constantly change shape and size, depending on the will and whim of the wind and sea. Diann Ducharme’s books The Outer Banks House and Return to the Outer Banks House were obvious choices for me.
As I didn’t receive the books until Thursday, May 28th, was at Dallas Fan-Expo Friday-Sunday, and came home (as I always do) with “con crud,” this review will be only of the first book. Come back next Friday, June 12th for my review of the sequel.
From the opening scene where Abigail, who has been ‘boatsick’ for days, runs down a pier and onto the beach, fighting against her hoopskirts the whole time (and, can we pause a moment to imagine running anywhere in hoops, let alone in sand?) to the last scene where Abigail and her scruffy Ben decide that love is worth the risk, I was swept away by this novel. The post-Civil War period is one I haven’t explored recently, but I had enough context to appreciate the subtle political and personal intricacies of having relatives and friends who worked for or against the KKK. We are so used to seeing Klan stories set in the 1950s and ’60s, that to experience that awful organization from the other end lent perspective in many ways.
Also fascinating was the way these inland-bred characters learned to cope with life on the shore. The pattern of people’s days is different when you live so closely tied to the sea, with different rhythms and different risks.
Add to that a burgeoning love affair, and what you have – what Ducharme has so brilliantly created – is a rich tapestry of people and places, politics and professions, and perspective.
Ducharme’s dialogue, while accurate for the period, never feels stilted, and flows as easily as any contemporary language. Her descriptions are vivid – I could taste the salt in the air, and feel the sand between my toes – and her characters feels as though they could walk out of the pages and join you for a cold glass of lemonade and a chat about the latest novel you’ve read. Abigail, especially, surprised me, because she was so smart, so fierce in her love and loyalty, and so much her own person, in a time when women were often…not.
While I wouldn’t really classify The Outer Banks House as a “beach read,” – it’s a bit meatier than that – it’s still the perfect novel for a lazy summer afternoon.
Goes well with seafood salad and cold lemonade, preferably served al fresco.
Monday, May 25
Spotlight & Giveaway at Raven Haired Girl
Tuesday, May 26
Guest Post & Giveaway at Susan Heim on Writing
Wednesday, May 27
Review (Book One) at Back Porchervations
Thursday, May 28
Review (Book One) at In a Minute
Friday, May 29
Interview & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Obsession
Spotlight at The Never-Ending Book
Saturday, May 30
Spotlight at Becky on Books
Sunday, May 31
Review (Book One) at Book Nerd
Monday, June 1
Review (Book Two) at Let them Read Books
Spotlight at I’d So Rather Be Reading
Tuesday, June 2
Review (Book One) at Book Lovers Paradise
Wednesday, June 3
Review (Book Two) at Back Porchervations
Thursday, June 4
Spotlight & Giveaway (Book One) at View from the Birdhouse
Friday, June 5
Review (Both Books) at Bibliotica
Sunday, June 7
Review (Book One) at Carole’s Ramblings
Monday, June 8
Review (Book One) at Ageless Pages Reviews
Guest Post at Curling Up With A Good Book
Tuesday, June 9
Review & Giveaway (Book One) at A Literary Vacation
Wednesday, June 10
Review (Both Books) at Unshelfish
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews
Thursday, June 11
Review (Book Two) at Book Lovers Paradise
Interview at Boom Baby Reviews
Friday, June 12
Spotlight at Caroline Wilson Writes
Sunday, June 14
Review (Book Two) at Carole’s Ramblings
Monday, June 15
Review & Giveaway (Both Books) at Genre Queen
Tuesday, June 16
Interview at Books and Benches
Spotlight at The Lit Bitch
Wednesday, June 17
Review (Both Books) at Luxury Reading
Thursday, June 18
Review (Book One) at Books and Benches
Interview at Layered Pages
Friday, June 19
Review (Book One) at Build a Bookshelf
Review (Book Two) at Ageless Pages Reviews
When her father falls into a coma, Indian American photographer Sonya reluctantly returns to the family she’d fled years before. Since she left home, Sonya has lived on the run, free of any ties, while her soft-spoken sister, Trisha, has created a perfect suburban life, and her ambitious sister, Marin, has built her own successful career. But as these women come together, their various methods of coping with a terrifying history can no longer hold their memories at bay.
Buried secrets rise to the surface as their father—the victim of humiliating racism and perpetrator of horrible violence—remains unconscious. As his condition worsens, the daughters and their mother wrestle with private hopes for his survival or death, as well as their own demons and buried secrets.
Told with forceful honesty, Trail of Broken Wings reveals the burden of shame and secrets, the toxicity of cruelty and aggression, and the exquisite, liberating power of speaking and owning truth.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads
Sejal Badani is a former attorney. She currently lives on the West Coast with her family and their two dogs.
Everyone knows that old saying about how there are three sides to every story, yours, mine, and the truth, and never has that been more true than in Sejal Badani’s new novel Trail of Broken Wings, where each of the four women in the story (mother, Ranee, and her three daughters, Marin, Trisha, and Sonya) has her own story and her own truth, but so do the men in their lives, although those truths are more quietly spoken.
With four main characters, you might think the narrative would be a little bit confusing, but Badani makes all the characters – not just Ranee and her daughters – distinct and dimensional, just each of their stories is distinct. I especially liked the subtle ways in which Badani used language – Ranees is more stylized, highlighting her status as someone who immigrated as an adult, while the daughters are all much more American in their speech patterns.
The mostly male supporting characters – Gia (Marin’s teenaged daughter) Raj (Marin’s husband by an arranged marriage), Eric (Trisha’s husband), and David (the handsome doctor destined to be Sonya’s love interest) are all fully realized – something a lot of women don’t always do well, just as a lot of mean never fully realize their female supporting characters. Of all of them, Raj was the least open to us, as readers, and I have to confess, I’d have liked more of him.
Then there’s Brent, Ranee’s husband, and father of her girls. Also an immigrant (he and Ranee married and started their family back in India), he spends most of the novel in a coma, but his presence is strongly felt throughout the novel, even so, and, as his actions dictate almost everyone else’s choices, without ever speaking a line, he becomes one of the most influential characters in the book.
I liked the structure of this novel – alternating chapters, headed with the POV character’s name, and I liked the way the past both formed the present, and became a release, as well. It was a satisfying read, and ended with a note of hope, if not a perfect pat ending, and I like that better than pretty bows, anyway.
The use of Indian culture as both a grounding mechanism and as counterpoint to modern American life worked really well, and the constant descriptions of food made my mouth water, and might seem out of place, unless you believe, as I do, that food is a source of both culture and comfort.
While this book does deal with very dark subjects (child abuse, domestic violence, rape), it does so in a sensitive manner based in truth, and never sensationalized.
If you’re up for a good family drama that straddles the line between contemporary and literary fiction, you will not be disappointed by Trail of Broken Wings.
Goes well with: chai tea, garlic naan, and whatever other Indian food suits your fancy.
Monday, May 4th: Patricia’s Wisdom
Tuesday, May 5th: Books a la Mode – author guest post
Wednesday, May 6th: Lit and Life
Thursday, May 7th: She Treads Softly
Monday, May 11th: Kritter’s Ramblings
Tuesday, May 12th: Book Nerd
Wednesday, May 13th: BookNAround
Thursday, May 14th: Bell, Book & Candle
Monday, May 18th: Thoughts on This ‘n That
Tuesday, May 19th: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, May 20th: Unshelfish
Tuesday, May 26th: Life is Story
Wednesday, May 27th: Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Thursday, May 28th: A Reader’s Oasis
Wednesday, June 3rd: Bibliotica
Thursday, June 4th: Broken Teepee
The New York Times bestselling humorist Michael Perry makes his fiction debut with this hilarious and bighearted tale—a comic yet sincere exploration of faith in the face of the modern world.
Life is suddenly full of drama for low-key Harley Jackson: A woman in a big red pickup has stolen his bachelor’s heart; a Hummer- driving developer hooked on self-improvement audiobooks is threatening to pave the last vestiges of his family farm; and inside his barn lies a calf bearing the image of Jesus Christ. Harley’s best friend, Billy, a giant of a man who shares his trailer house with a herd of cats and tries to pass off country music lyrics as philosophy, urges him to sidestep the woman, fight the developer, and get rich off the calf. But Harley takes the opposite tack, hoping to avoid what his devout, dearly departed mother would have called “a scene.”
Then the secret gets out—right through the barn door—and Harley’s “miracle” goes viral. Within hours, pilgrims, grifters, and the media have descended on his quiet patch of Swivel, Wisconsin, looking for a glimpse (and a per- centage) of the calf. Does Harley hide the famous, possibly holy, calf and risk a riot, or give the people what they want—and in the process raise enough money to keep his land and, just maybe, win the woman in the big red pickup?
Harley goes all in, cutting a deal with a major Hollywood agent that transforms his little farm into an international spiritual theme park—think Lourdes, only with cheese curds and souvenir snow globes. Soon, Harley has lots of money . . . and more trouble than he ever dreamed.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
Michael Perry is a humorist, radio host, songwriter, and the New York Times bestselling author of several nonfiction books, including Visiting Tom and Population: 485. He lives in rural Wisconsin with his family.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
I’ve been reading Michael Perry‘s memoirs for years now, having first “met” him when I picked up a copy of Population: 485 on the discount rack at Barnes and Noble. In fact, my first review for TLC Book Tours was Perry’s Visiting Tom. He writes with this tone that combines intelligence (he listens to NPR) and cozy Americana (like Garrison Keillor without the collection of tag lines, or Stephen King without the killer clowns and sadistic vampires), and it’s that unassuming style that sucks you into his writing.
The Jesus Cow is Michael’s first novel. (Can I call him Michael? After reading so much of his writing, I feel like we’re on a first name basis, or should be). I have to admit I was a bit concerned that what works so well in personal stories might not translate to fiction, and I have to say, I’ve never been more glad to be wrong. First, this is absolutely, unmistakeably a Michael Perry book. Second, it’s also absolutely, unmistakeably fiction.
Oh, sure, The Jesus Cow pays the same attention to the details of rural small-town life that Perry’s other work does, and addresses (if somewhat obliquely) what is happening in our agricultural communities – something he’s never shied away from discussing, but it’s also just a story: a story of a man, a calf, and the preposterous situation surrounding the two.
I feel safe saying that only Michael Perry could tell a story like this, and make it feel so real that you want to leap out of your chair and drive to Wisconsin. He has given us a collection of memorable characters: Harley, Billy, Klute, Carolyn, Maggie, and Mindy all have distinct voices, and feel like people you’ve run into at the mini-mart. (I’m quite certain we’ve driven behind Carolyn’s Subaru, actually). He’s got a knack for setting a scene that I actually envy. And he does it all with an economy of phrase that Hemingway would hate because he’d feel threatened by it.
Reading The Jesus Cow won’t change your life, but it will give you a glimpse into rural America that is filtered through the lens of fiction, and if nothing else, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll want to invite a friend over for a “staff meeting” that involves gathering around the kitchen table with a couple of beers.
Goes well with a farmhouse breakfast of eggs, bacon and hashbrowns, OR, a couple of doughnuts from the mini-mart, washed down with a giant cup of coffee.
Want to read this book? If you have a USA mailing address (sorry, this one’s US only), enter to win a copy. ONE winner will be selected next Tuesday and notified by email, as well as on this blog.
How to enter? Leave a comment on this post before 11:59 PM US Central Daylight Time on Monday, June 8th telling me about your favorite roadside attraction. OR follow @Melysse on Twitter and retweet my post about this review.
Tuesday, May 19th: Read. Write. Repeat.
Thursday, May 21st: Buried Under Books
Friday, May 22nd: No More Grumpy Bookseller
Monday, May 25th: Jen’s Book Thoughts
Tuesday, May 26th: The Book Binder’s Daughter
Wednesday, May 27th: Gspotsylvania: Musings from a Spotsylvania Dog and Bird Mom
Thursday, May 28th: girlichef
Tuesday, June 2nd: Bibliotica
Wednesday, June 3rd: BookNAround
Thursday, June 4th: I’d Rather Be At The Beach
Monday, June 8th: Booksie’s Blog
Tuesday, June 9th: Living in the Kitchen with Puppies
Wednesday, June 10th: Apples and Arteries
Thursday, June 11th: A Dream Within a Dream
Friday, June 12th: Imaginary Reads
In the vein of Jojo Moyes and Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, a warm and touching novel about a woman who embarks on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral after losing her mother, sharing life lessons—in the best Chaucer tradition—with eight other women along the way.
Che Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.
Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years.
Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound | Goodreads
Kim Wright is the author of Love in Mid Air, The Unexpected Waltz, and The Canterbury Sisters. Loving dogs, wine, travel, mediation and ballroom dance.
My first introduction to Kim Wright’s work was years ago, when I reviewed Love in Mid Air, just before my 40th birthday. Five years later, and just a couple months before I reach 45, I requested this title from NetGalley, and was delighted to be approved.
Wright’s writing style has matured a little (as have we all) in the five years since I first began reading her; she was great before, now, she’s damned near perfect. As is The Canterbury Sisters.
I took a class in Chaucer when I was in college, and, of course, I’d read his unfinished novel The Canterbury Tales before that, as all well-rounded readers should do, so I wasn’t surprised when the diverse group of women on the “Broads Abroad” trip to walk the Canterbury Trail agreed to take turns telling stories. What did surprise me – pleasantly so – was how distinct each woman was, and how their stories were both specific to each character, but universal to all women.
Of course, I was most interested in Che, because she’s the POV character, and it’s her through eyes that we meet the other women in her group – a group she remains on the fringes of, throughout the novel, as she deals, not just with the walk itself, but with the recent loss of her free-spirited, feminist mother (who, actually, reminded me a lot of my own mother, but only in a good way), and the fact that her longtime lover has dumped her. On top of it, she managed to leave her phone somewhere, which just increases her sense of isolation. (And, I confess, I was twitching on her behalf, tech-addict that I am.)
While the novel is peppered with interesting tidbits about Chaucer, Beckett, Canterbury, etc., it is absolutely a contemporary story, one where there are few male characters, except at the periphery of things. It’s not specifically women’s fiction (and I do so hate that term), but it’s fiction of and about women, and I found it refreshing that there was no goal of finding true romance. If anything, all these characters were on a mission to find peace, love, and happiness with, and within, themselves.
The Canterbury Sisters made me wish I were better at making women-friends, and gave me a deeper appreciation for the women – friends and relatives – already in my life.
Goes well with a hearty peasant’s pie and a glass of hard cider.