Welcome to bookchat where you can talk about anything...books, plays, essays, and books on tape. You don’t have to be reading a book to come in, sit down, and chat with us.
Ten years ago, on June 7, 2005, I joined Daily Kos after lurking for a few months. A year and a bit later, I started publishing Bookflurries. I have been thinking about why.
Why I write my Bookflurries diaries:
1. To affirm the importance of reading
2. To share good books and learn about others
3. To encourage authors
4. To learn new things in discussions of books
5. To give people an oasis to come to where they can relax and chat
6. To remember older books and classics of various genres
7. To mention poems, plays, movies, music and quotations
8. To be with people who like to read, travel, and write
Tonight, I want to feature some books that have been written by Daily Kos writers in the last few months. Congratulations to them!
It turns out that I am not a very good reviewer. I only know what I like, I guess.
A new writing star is born and we are here to witness it.
James R. Wells is the author of The Great Symmetry.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
In an asteroid in the Aurora star system, exoarcheologist Evan McElroy has made a discovery about the Versari, a long-departed alien race. Material, he thinks, for some great research papers.
But Evan's sponsor, the Affirmatix family of companies, realizes they can make huge gains from the new finding, if it is kept completely secret. Step one of their plan is to kill the entire research team − starting with Evan.
As Evan flees for his life, he finds there is far more at stake than he could have imagined. His trajectory has reawakened the long-buried struggle of the Infoterrorists, who believe all knowledge screams to be free, against those who maintain and defend the True Story that holds all of civilization together.
James says:
The Great Symmetry is available on Amazon * and at Village Books in Bellingham Washington. You can order The Great Symmetry through your local bookstore via the national distributor IngramSpark. For an autographed print copy, order on http://www.thegreatsymmetry.com/
* I encourage people to buy their books through local resellers that are an important part of communities everywhere. If you always buy from Amazon, you'll miss those bookstores when they're gone.
James tells about the book in an earlier diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I really liked this book. I like science fiction and I have read a lot of stories. This one went down smooth as silk. I can’t say much without ruining the plot as it is so tight. I could not lay the book down.
I liked the characters and I liked the premise of free speech…tell everyone. I liked the Buttonwood tree and the story of how it was nurtured, one of the very, very few on the planet of Kelter.
Best of all are the cave scenes. They are thrilling and full of wonder at the same time.
James says he is planning a sequel and I am looking forward to it very much.
Darkened Blade (Fallen Blade Series #6) by Kelly McCullough
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
Aral Kingslayer has nothing to lose—and only justice to gain. Torn apart by the death of his goddess, he must avenge her in order to save himself from being lost forever....
It’s been nine long years since the death of his patron, Namara, and exalted assassin Aral Kingslayer desperately misses the thrill and glory of being a higher power of justice. Now he is haunted by the ghosts of the past—and by the ghost of the lost goddess herself.
When Namara calls upon Aral in a dream to seek justice for her death and the ruination of her temple, Aral must obtain the help of his fellow former Blades and his Shade familiar, Triss, to pursue the vengeance he knows Namara deserves.
I have been reading Kelly’s books for a long time and they are always a great read. Again, I want to be careful not to spoil the plot of the last Aral book. I have watched Aral grow and change throughout the series and I will miss him. This final book is fast-paced and the tension grows until it is almost unbearable.
Aral’s view that will bedevil him all through the story is clearly explained on page 15:
No, I lie to myself when I say the responsibility was hers. (the goddess of Justice) My actions were and always have been my own, and somewhere down deep I’ve always known that. If the responsibility for what I do belongs to me, so do the choices. I couldn’t go back to being a tool in another's hand if my soul depended on it.
And the choices in this story are terrible.
The travel in the story is hard, but always interesting, too. There are some serious dangers on the way.
Page 60
As a mode of travel barges drive me to distraction. They’re slow. They’re cramped. They’re damp. It would have been a good deal faster to walk from Tavan to Uln on the tow path that followed the river, and much cheaper, and that’s almost certainly what we would have done, too, if it weren’t for the risen. Running water impedes the passage of the restless dead and the Tamar River was deep and wild.
The danger continues in the mountains:
Page 142
How do you describe it when the world comes apart around you? When a dozen things all happen at once? When you see some, and only hear about others later? This is the dilemma of the story teller, whether they live the moment or only tell it later.
Let me begin with the sound of shattering stone, with a great wall of falling rock that rolled past behind me like a waterfall gone mad-noise and dust and the world’s ending…
The fast-paced action continues until the very end. It is a gripping story. Thanks, Kelly!
Coming out soon and perfect for my grandson, but as Kelly said in a comment, a book that adults will also enjoy:
School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough coming August 4th
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
"Evan Quick, Hero's Log, May the 25th… and darn it - I just can't do this. I'm never going to be a Mask. Get over it Evan."
Evan Quick has spent his whole life dreaming of becoming a hero. Every morning he wakes up and runs through a checklist of test to see if he's developed powers over night, and every day it is the same thing - nothing. No flying, no super strength, no heat rays or cold beams. No invulnerability - that always hurt to check - no telepathy, no magic. Not even the ability to light a light bulb without flipping a switch. And now, he's finally ready to give up.
But then, the class field trip to the Mask Museum is interrupted by a super villain attack, and Evan somehow manages to survive a death ray. Even better, Evan's favorite Mask, Captain Commanding, shows up to save them all -- and when things go very wrong, it's Evan who finds the strength to come to Captain Commanding's rescue.
Yet the hero's reception Evan is expecting never happens. Before he even gets the chance to say hello, Evan is bundled away to The Academy, an institution derisively called The School for Sidekicks by its students. Forced to take classes like Banter Basics and Combat with Dinnerware, while being assigned as an 'apprentice' to Foxman - a Mask widely considered a has-been -- Evan starts to worry that he'll never be able to save the day…
David Akadjian is the author of
The Little Book of Revolution: A Distributive Strategy for Democracy.
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
I have not read the book, but it does sound interesting and important.
David’s website has more about the book:
http://akadjian.com/
David writes on his website, “If we win on ideas, policies follow”:
We have conversations every day about politics whether we know it or not. What if we could use these conversations to win people over instead of replicating the back-and-forth fights we see in the media?
The reviews look really positive.
Jill Klausen, from the Winning Words project wrote:
As the founder of The Winning Words Project, whose sideline is writing about this very topic, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Not only have I learned quite a lot, but I was convinced to change my mind about a thing or two, myself! If you read, practice the techniques in, and recommend this book to at least two friends, we could change the course of the country. Buy it; you'll be glad you did.
melpomene1 has published a new romance novella on Kindle,
Wish I Might, set in Regency England. Print version and other ebook platforms to come soon.
It is a prequel to As You Wish which I enjoyed very much.
melpomene1 says:
Here's the blurb:
A love unrequited and wishes unfulfilled...
Phoebe Sheffield has been nursing tender feelings for David Traymore, a bitter younger man who views her as a sister. On a misty evening, under the influence of absinthe, she wishes for a suitor like him, only mature enough to appreciate her as a woman.
Be careful what you wish for...
For a few magic moments, her wish seems to come true when she meets someone she mistakes for a vision of David from the future. But after the most passionate encounter of her life, she learns her dream lover is actually David’s worst enemy: Lord Solebury, the man who sired him then abandoned his mother.
A choice between love and friendship...
Though Phoebe should hate Solebury, she’s wildly attracted to him—and moved when he opens up about the regrets of his youth. But how can she justify betraying David, the friend who needs her most, to be with the man who is the bane of his existence?
Update:
In a comment below, melpomene1 says:
Also, for those who don't like Amazon, the paperback is now available at Barnes and Noble:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Eventually, it will be on Nook, too.
Oh, and just remembered, I'll be giving away a few paperback copies via Goodreads. You can enter the contest here:
https://www.goodreads.com/...
......................
A big congratulations to
MT Spaces for having his book published.
MT Spaces said:
“The First U.S. Edition of The Great Salt Lake Mime Saga and Amsterdam's Festival of Fools was officially published on St. Patrick's Day 2015.
Information on how to order:
https://greatsaltlakemimesagaplusadamfestivalfools.wordpress.com/...
...........
Here is what I said in another diary:
Our MT Spaces has published a Memoir, The Great Salt Lake Mime Saga and Amsterdam’s Festival of Fools: Memoir and Memorabilia.
When I read a memoir, I also pause to think about my own life. What was I doing in the same years? How did my vision of life overlap with the author’s? Good memories, hard memories, regrets, sympathy…all are part of my reading as the author shares his life.
In this book, I see memories of people who did the hard work of becoming entertainers, who reached out to the world and shared their vision and skills. It takes courage and joy to produce a show. The challenge of setting up in varied venues from the street to small stages, to high schools is a great one. Finding enough money to live on while honing the material and getting known is very tough.
This memoir is an intimate look from the inside that touches the heart the more you read about how the young artists began and worked together to create their shows. The author saw it all from the beginning in Salt Lake City to the shows in Amsterdam. He did lots of jobs to keep the show going strong such as doing art work, stage lighting, juggling, running off programs, and keeping the bus driver awake at night on bad roads.
I visited Amsterdam for a few days in 1972 so I know a little bit about the bustle of that city; the trams, the bicycles, the flower market and the buildings. It is a lively city and the Mime Troupe made it livelier.
Thanks to MT Spaces’ gift of this book, I enjoyed a time travel trip back into the 70’s when dancers, mimes, clowns, and musicians were burgeoning with creative enterprise and daring the odds to show their stuff.
Thank you, MT Spaces!!!
Belonging: A Memoir by Robert W. Fuller
My review at BFBC on Jan. 8th, 2014
Bookflurries-Bookchat: What Is It Exactly That Grabs Us and Draws Us In?
http://www.dailykos.com/...
When the author shares himself with me, it invites me to think about my own life.
I just finished reading Belonging: A Memoir by Robert W. Fuller (I received this book as a gift and I enjoyed it very much). I could recognize many things about myself as I read, and it made me think. It was inspiring and hopeful. As a side note, I agree with the author that we change so much during our lives and even, in my case, day to day. I think it is important to change as we learn and absorb new things. But, there is still a core “me” inside that has never changed which is curious to know things and has a love of reading. When I try to deny time for learning or reading, I start to die inside and a voice yanks me back and insists that I keep on reading despite people wondering how I find the time to do it.
I have always believed, as Robert Fuller does, in the power of questions.
Writing a memoir is very difficult. What do you put in? What do you leave out? Robert does this very well. He has fought and struggled to live a life that satisfies his desire to help others, to model a world where there is dignity for every person. He has touched a nerve with his other books, Somebodies and Nobodies: Overcoming the Abuse of Rank and the sequel, All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity. People have told him their stories and he has listened. Listening is a great strength.
He has co-authored Dignity for All: How to Create a World without Rankism. (Not without rank…but without rank”ism”). Modeling new ways of behaving and having mentors is the key. Traveling as a citizen diplomat was a large part of learning that there are many people in all countries of the world that care about finding a better way to live than to fight wars. It took a lot of courage to visit the USSR before the wall came down or to go to Somalia .
I enjoyed this glimpse of his college life: (pg. 38)
Instead of going to classes, I was spending a lot of time flying around the country in a small plane that a friend of mine had put together from spare parts. Students were forbidden to have cars at Oberlin, but there was no prohibition against planes. So Tony Newcomb had built one in a barn on the edge of town.
In this interesting book, an interesting life, and a very much needed field of work in the world is explained.
Sensible Shoes (Sage Blackwood) has completed her trilogy that began with Jinx. This is a children’s story that adults will enjoy.
The second in the series was Jinx’s Magic which I reviewed here:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
I also reviewed Jinx’s Fire in a recent diary:
Desperate Characters, Desperate Situations
http://www.dailykos.com/...
In books where action and plot are fast paced we find desperate characters in desperate situations. The author is encouraged to up the stakes for the characters so that their bad day gets worse and then even worse, yet. This makes me turn the pages fast to find out what happens next. I like this kind of book though I prefer the dead do not pile up too high especially in the named characters that I care about. As I have said before, when I spend many hours and a lot of energy living with the main characters, I really want them to survive their troubles however desperate.
Sometimes it is the villain who is desperate. He or she may think they are the hero and are in the right and their actions are important and must succeed. They believe their world view is the right one that must be forced on others no matter what it takes. The end justifies the means in their minds.
Speaking of desperate times, Jinx’s Fire by Sage Blackwood is coming out on March 24th. It is the third in a series of books for middle grades (8 - 12 Years). The author is our Daily Kos friend Sensible Shoes. The series has been highly praised for a good reason. It is fun and scary to read. If we readers thought that Jinx and the Urwalders had troubles in the last two books, we now find that the situation has grown more desperate. At least three kings want to possess the land and destroy the trees. The safe paths are overgrown, fires are set, and the Bonemaster holds the lives of Jinx and his friends in his hand. If he dies, they die, yet he must be defeated or the Urwald will die.
You can’t get much more desperate than that. Jinx has to make desperate choices as he walks the paths of fire and ice. He is already guilty of turning a person into a tree. How much more guilt can he take and still do what has to be done? As the clearings and villages of the Urwalders are overrun by soldiers, Jinx uses his fading powers to bring the people of the clearings to safety in Simon’s home. Jinx tries not to think about how Simon would feel to find his kitchen overrun by people. How can the people unite and defeat the armies and win their homes back? It is difficult to understand the words in important books that might help Jinx fight back, and it is a trial to keep from being eaten by werewolves and trolls. In the meantime, he thinks that Simon's life force is fading and time is running out to save him.
Then there is this thing about holding meetings and letting people vote. That is brand new. Let trolls be on a council? Let witches vote? One thing that had better be in the new constitution is that people do not leave their children in the woods to perish as Jinx was left by his stepfather.
Once again, Jinx is juggling a lot of things all at once. Luckily, he has friends who are loyal and will help and he can still read their emotions in the colors around their heads. (Always my favorite part).
Jinx is desperate to learn many things. What do listeners in the forest do? How can he use his gift of fire? How can he stop himself from being tempted to misuse the deathforce? Do the means justify the ends? Can he keep his arm from being chewed off?
It is a lot to expect that one young wizard who still cannot make some kinds of magic work can solve such desperate problems.
Many thanks to Harper Collins for the review book they sent me and to SS for writing this lively series.
The Time Cellar by Marc Emory
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
Robert Packard, born in Los Angeles in 1974, love-starved wine nerd, frustrated physicist, and over-qualified gofer for a California law firm in the year 2010, suddenly gets two accidental windows to the past: Château Lafite in 1860, and Monticello, Virginia in 1818. They appear courtesy of the proverbial "Dark and Stormy Night."
Not yet knowing if animate beings can cross through unscathed, he enlists the help of a local coin expert, and obtains the vintage coins to buy impossibly fresh wine from the Bordeaux vineyards in 1860 and "30 year old" wine from the 18th century directly from the cellar of his new friend, Thomas Jefferson. Hearing Robert is from California, and knowing only the geography of 1818, Jefferson compliments Robert on his English ("You speak impeccable English for a Mexican"). Robert has some history to fill in.
I like time travel stories so this was a fun read.
Hidden History 3: A New Collection of Forgotten Mysteries, Oddities, and Unknown Stories From True History by Lenny Flank
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/...
Overview
A collection of oddities and forgotten stories from history. Includes: Martha, the Last Passenger Pigeon; The Tokaimura Nuclear Accident; The American Carrier Attacks on Pearl Harbor; The Republic of West Florida; Coxey's Army, the First "Occupiers"; The Strange History of Corn Flakes; Jimmy Stewart and the Abominable Snowman; and How John Leal Put Poison in Our Drinking Water and Saved Us All.
I am still reading this book of short essays many of which you have seen in Lenny’s diaries. They are interesting and I will give the book to hubby to read when I finish it.
Best wishes to all who are writing! A big thank you to these authors who have finished their stories and published them so we can read them. Please consider leaving a review at Barnes & Noble or Amazon if you enjoy the stories. It really is a help to them.
Diaries of the Week:
Write On! One Impossible Thing
by James Wells
http://www.dailykos.com/...
Please click on the link to see this very beautiful tribute:
Ireland Builds Monument Honoring Native American Tribe.
Read more: http://bluenationreview.com/...
The Irish have built a monument honoring the Choctaw Nation – nine steel eagle feathers arranged in the shape of a bowl – in acknowledgement of the tribe’s aid to the country during the devastating Irish potato famine.
In 1847, the Choctaw Nation donated $170 to Ireland during the Great Famine that killed approximately 1 million people. It may seem like small change by today’s numbers, but back then the donation amounted to thousands of dollars...
“By creating an empty bowl symbolic of the Great Irish Famine formed from the seemingly fragile and rounded shaped eagle feathers used in the Choctaw ceremonial dress, it is my aim to communicate the tenderness and warmth of the Choctaw Nation who provided food to the hungry when they themselves were still recovering from their own tragic recent past.”
H/T: Choctaw Nation, News OK