Thursday, June 6, 2013

Books In For Review

LOTS of books this week in for review!  We're going to be very busy around Feathered Quill!  Check the descriptions below out and then stop by our review site, Feathered Quill Book Reviews, in a few weeks to read the reviews.





Surviving Curtis Hall: The Lure of Blood by L.A. Matthies Attempting to avoid the violence and drugs at Hibernia High, sixteen-year-old Tristen McCoy and his friends have transferred on a sports scholarship to the elite Curtis Hall boarding school. Hometown lacrosse heroes, the boys are tested as they attempt to assimilate into a student body where excelling is the norm. Tristen hones his leadership skills and sense of humor while finding his way in this new environment. He and his friends must rise to the challenge of competing with peers whose skills equal and perhaps surpass their own. Tristen's attention is soon captured by the beautiful and alluring Marcella Venier. Despite their different origins and upbringings, the two are drawn to each other. Marcella, compelled to live a clandestine life with dark secrets and a covert research mission, struggles with her desire to further her own designs and still remain in Tristen's world. Events spiral out of control, and a student is lost in the subterranean tunnels beneath the school's campus. Tristen and his friends stand accused of foul play, and in an effort to make things right, he enlists Marcella's help in organizing a search party. During the perilous rescue attempt, danger threatens to not only sever the bonds of friendship of the group, but take their lives as well. They hope they can survive until graduation.
 
The Peacock Angel: Rise of the Decarchs by Glenn Dale Bridges On a very unordinary day in the spring of 5799 BC, the archangel Raphael subdued a great evil and imprisoned it deep below the sands of a forgotten desert, thus ending an age of chaos and freeing humanity from the yoke of sin...almost. There is always a gray area...even in heaven. Azazel, father of the Magi and bane of the ancients, has somehow escaped from his desert purgatory after nearly eight thousand years. He is hell bent on propagating a race of giants to spoil the Earth, and hidden below the rock of a mountain his army is growing. First, however, he must destroy the one destined to stop him, and thanks to an obscure and antiquated text, he knows exactly where to start. Something is coming to kill Thane Connally, an angel told him so. The young prison guard, shaken after his encounter with powers both dark and supernatural, is at first reluctant to embrace his role as a pawn of prophecy. Only after learning certain ineffable truths from Armaros, a disgraced seraph striving for redemption, does Thane begin to realize he is the principal character in a feud that predates recorded history. Only together can Thane and Armaros, along with a benevolent giant, a confused demon, and a small group of other improbable allies, hope to thwart Azazel and his minions. If left unchecked Azazel's madness could unravel the very fabric of humankind and trigger the unbegotten. Blending Jewish folklore, the apocrypha, and ancient oral tradition, The Peacock Angel is a thought-provoking tale of an ordinary young man plunged into extraordinary circumstances with the fate of the world lying somewhere in the balance.

Good to Her by Enid Harlow Good to Her is a historical literary novel set against the backdrop of the famous New York City restaurant, Dinty Moore's, which stood at the corner of 46th Street just off Broadway for some 50 years. Enlivened by the irascible character of the restaurant's real-life proprietor, James "Dinty" Moore, the novel takes readers back to the days of Prohibition and the police raids foisted on Moore's establishment, often resulting in his compulsory appearance in court. The novel moves forward through 1964, exploring the changing political and social life of the times, and focusing on the marriage of Nate Neumann, a successful New York City businessman, and Sallie, his much younger wife. Having fled the confines of small-town Indiana, Sallie comes to New York with dreams of becoming an actress. She meets Nate in Dinty Moore's. Sallie is 20 and fresh off the farm. Nate is 46 and instantly smitten. The story is brightened by appearances or references to celebrities who frequent the place such as Walter Winchell, Lauren Bacall, and Humphrey Bogart. Sallie is prone to telling Nate how Good to Her he is. Nate wonders, Is he really?  

Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews Grace Stanton’s life as a rising media star and beloved lifestyle blogger takes a surprising turn when she catches her husband cheating and torpedoes his pricey sports car straight into the family swimming pool. Grace suddenly finds herself locked out of her palatial home, checking account, and even the blog she has worked so hard to develop in her signature style. Moving in with her widowed mother, who owns and lives above a rundown beach bar called The Sandbox, is less than ideal. So is attending court-mandated weekly "divorce recovery" therapy sessions with three other women and one man for whom betrayal seems to be the only commonality. When their “divorce coach” starts to act suspiciously, they decide to start having their own Wednesday "Ladies' Night" sessions at The Sandbox, and the unanticipated bonds that develop lead the members of the group to try and find closure in ways they never imagined. Can Grace figure out a new way home and discover how strong she needs to be to get there?

The Fresh 20: 20-Ingredient Meal Plans for Health and Happiness 5 Nights a Week by Melissa Lanz The Fresh 20, the popular budget-friendly meal-planning service founded by working mother Melissa Lanz, is now a cookbook, offering families an all-natural and easy approach to mealtimes. Using just 20 organic, non-processed ingredients per week, home cooks can create 5 wholesome, delicious meals in just minutes. A busy home cook herself, Lanz understands the “What’s for dinner?” conundrum and has developed a program that gives parents healthy cooking options. Inspiring and educational, The Fresh 20 is filled with gorgeous color photos, shopping lists that take advantage of seasonal fruits and vegetables, prep tips, and, of course, easy and delicious recipes — including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options.

Down and Out in Bugtussle: The Mad Fat Road to Happiness by Stephanie McAfee With her fiancé now her ex-fiancé, Ace has hightailed it back to Bugtussle, Mississippi, and back to her Gramma Jones’s house. Her best friends, Lilly and Chloe, are delighted she’s back, but Ace still has some challenges ahead of her. For one thing, her replacement as Bugtussle High School’s art teacher, Cameron Becker, refuses to vacate the position. So Ace is stuck working as a substitute teacher while harboring fantasies of running Miss Becker out of town. On top of that, Lilly and Chloe are obsessed with setting her up on less-than-romantic blind dates—even though all she wants is a break from her pitiful love life. To ease her troubled mind, Ace resolves to restore her grandmother’s gardens to their former glory. But in the well-worn gardening book she’s dug out of her grandmother’s attic there are a series of suspicious notes that indicate her grandmother may have had a special someone in her past. Now, with her faithful chiweenie, Buster Loo, by her side, Ace is determined to get to the bottom of her grandmother’s secret life, all the while hoping her own life isn’t about to implode...

The Digest Diet: Dining Out Guide by Liz Vaccariello The Digest Diet is a 21-day weight-loss plan based on groundbreaking science and newly discovered foods and habits that help your body to release fat. Reader’s Digest sifted through all the weight-loss science to pick the foods, recipes, and habits that truly slim you down quickly and safely. We reviewed cutting-edge nutrition advances and myth-busting articles. We discovered some new reasons fat creeps on—and reliable ways to get it to fade away quickly. The Digest Diet targets surprising fat increases in three key areas—eating, environment and exercise—and gives you the tools you need to turn the tables and shift your body into fat release mode.  

The 25,000 Mile Love Story: The Epic Story of the Couple Who Sacrificed Everything to Run the World by Serge Roetheli The 25,000 Mile Love Story is a love storybut not a love story in the traditional sense. It is not just about a man and woman; nor is it just about a husband and wife. There are many people who can write that story. Instead, this is a love story that has lasted a lifetimea love for the worlds roads and all the people who inhabit them. You will follow Serge Roetheli through his childhood as an adventurer, through his teen years as a boxer, and through his adult life as a runner and mountain guide. As he writes in this intriguing memoir, You will sit by my side as I fell in lovenot once, not twice, but three times. And you will run the road with me on The American Challenge and The World Tour. Then, you will return with me to where I belong, and I pray that you will take away some life lessons and the truth I have come to know so well.

Margot by Jillian Cantor In the spring of 1959, The Diary of Anne Frank has just come to the silver screen to great acclaim, and a young woman named Margie Franklin is working in Philadelphia as a secretary at a Jewish law firm. On the surface she lives a quiet life, but Margie has a secret: a life she once lived, a past and a religion she has denied, and a family and a country she left behind. Margie Franklin is really Margot Frank, older sister of Anne, who did not die in Bergen-Belsen as reported, but who instead escaped the Nazis for America. But now, as her sister becomes a global icon, Margie’s carefully constructed American life begins to fall apart. A new relationship threatens to overtake the young love that sustained her during the war, and her past and present begin to collide. Margie is forced to come to terms with Margot, with the people she loved, and with a life swept up into the course of history.  

The Hive by Gill Hornby It's the start of another school year at St. Ambrose. While the children are busy in the classroom, their mothers are learning sharper lessons. Lessons in friendship. Lessons in betrayal. Lessons in the laws of community, the transience of power...and how to get invited to lunch.  

The Mountain of Light by Indu Sundaresan By the time Queen Victoria slipped the Mountain of Light diamond on her wrist, claiming it for England, the gem had traveled around the world, changing hands over the centuries from one ruler to another in Persia, Afghanistan, and India.  

Rhoda's Ocean by Betty Abbott Sheinis Wilma Woodchuck and Rhoda Rabbit are best friends, even though they are very different. Practical Wilma believes in neatness, while Rhoda is a dreamer who forgets her shoes and wonders what an ocean looks like. Rhoda's Ocean celebrates creativity, friendship, and the rewards of being yourself. The language and illustrations speak to children on their level, encouraging the positive pursuit of ideas and the value of imagination.  

Bella & harry: Let's Visit Rome! by Lisa Manzione  

No Ordinary Apple: A Story About Eating Mindfully by Sara Marlowe On an otherwise ordinary day, Elliot discovers something extraordinary: the power of mindfulness. When he asks his neighbor Carmen for a snack, he’s at first disappointed when she hands him an apple—he wanted candy! But when encouraged to carefully and attentively look, feel, smell, taste, and even listen to the apple, Elliot discovers that this apple is not ordinary at all.

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