Sunday, December 1, 2013

Books in for Review

Busy, busy, busy.  Things are sort of crazy at Feathered Quill, but we're loving it!  Here's a sample of the books that have just come in for review:





Beach Brain Jane's 'Hairy' Adventure on Hilton Head Island by Andrea Studenc
 
College Freshman 101 by Brenda Faye Collie  Loresha Evans goes to college in this second installment of the Loresha Evans trilogy.  Loresha, now a High School graduate, experiences the woes of being a freshman in college, academically and personally.  She befriends a group of students who want to publish a Black student journal at a predominately white college and is faced with non-interest from the English Department.  She also experiences love with a graduate student.  Will the journal ever get published?  Has Loresha found true love?  Will she survive the first semester of college academically?

Promised Valley Peace by Ron Fritsch Promised Valley Peace is the fourth and last novel in Ron Fritsch’s allegorical Promised Valley series. The conspirators and their allies from the first three novels give up on the gods, whose existence many of them doubt, and discover how to use horses in warfare. They prepare to employ them in a last battle to bring the prehistoric enemy hunters and farmers together as one people in a “new kingdom” and end warfare between them forever. Individuals who partner with persons of the same gender are once again in the front lines, risking their lives for their peoples. The first three novels—Promised Valley Rebellion, Promised Valley War, and Promised Valley Conspiracy—have won a number of awards. Reviewers have included these comments about the series.

America's Greatest Blunder: The Fateful Decision to Enter World War One by Burton Yale Pines Entering World War One against Germany was America's greatest blunder of the 20th century. America had no reason to join the 3-year-old struggle. By sending two million doughboys to the Western Front, America shattered the battlefield stalemate and won the war, allowing Britain and France to impose a devastating peace on Germany, thus igniting toxic German cries for revenge. Absent America's entry into the war, the exhausted combatants, however unhappily, would have had to drag themselves to a negotiating table and there make a peace of compromise. There would have been no victor, no vanquished, no Versailles Treaty, no reparations, no German demands for revenge, no Hitler and surely no World War II and even no Cold War. The tale of how America stumbled into war is told by America's Greatest Blunder. It chronicles America's journey from sensible neutrality to its war declaration. It then describes how legions of doughboys were mobilized and trained and how they won the war, giving victory to Britain and France - thus launching the young 20th century on its course of decades of unprecedented violence.

Stella Bain by Anita Shreve When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in. A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella had been working as a nurse's aide near the front, but she can't remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French battlefield.

A Bad Mad Sad Day for Mama Bear by Mayra Calvani On a very bad day, Little Bear offers Mama Bear various items to make her feel better, but she's too busy to notice-until he gives her his super, so good, so very special dolly. Silly humor, alliteration, repetition, and onomatopoeia make this a fun read-aloud story. Gray Zone by Veronica Tabares The victim of a cyber-prank gone viral, Autumn was forced to transfer schools—not exactly what she wanted to do as a sophomore. But what choice did she have when all her personal information was posted all over the web? When threatening comments started to trickle in, the police said her only chance to avoid stalkers was to move schools and start over. Determined to make the best of her situation, Autumn realized that she had been given an opportunity to reinvent herself; to become the outgoing, popular, not-at-all-shy girl she'd always wanted to be. But even the best plans go awry. As soon as Autumn arrives at her new school, she meets Maurice—a bully of monumental proportions who makes life miserable for everyone. Things seem to be looking up when Autumn learns that her best friend Sophie Rose is transferring to her new school, too—but then Sophie starts keeping her distance. Bullied at school and online, adrift without the support of her best friend, Autumn believes she failed miserably at changing the old habits that had given her that shy girl reputation in the first place. Not only could she not move from reserved to rambunctious, she couldn't even get to normal. But when a tragedy shakes Autumn's world, she stops feeling sad about what happened to her. Now she's angry—and she's determined to put a stop to this cyber-torture and bullying of herself and the people she loves in

The Traitor's Wife: The Woman Behind Benedict Arnold and the Plan to Betray America by Allison Pataki In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen works as a servant in her cousin's household, taking charge and locking wills with everyone. Thomas Carrier labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and size and mysterious past. The two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures, with Thomas slowly revealing the story of his part in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves-in many forms-who hunt for blood.

Along the Watchtower by David Litwack The war in Iraq ended for Lieutenant Freddie Williams when an IED explosion left his mind and body shattered. Once he was a skilled gamer and expert in virtual warfare. Now he's a broken warrior, emerging from a medically induced coma to discover he's inhabiting two separate realities. The first is his waking world of pain, family trials, and remorse--and slow rehabilitation through the tender care of Becky, his physical therapist. The second is a dark fantasy realm of quests, demons, and magic that Freddie enters when he sleeps. In his dreams he is Frederick, Prince of Stormwind, who must make sense of his horrific visions in order to save his embattled kingdom from the monstrous Horde. His only solace awaits him in the royal gardens, where the gentle words of the beautiful gardener, Rebecca, calm the storms in his soul. While in the conscious world, the severely wounded vet faces a strangely similar and equally perilous mission--a journey along a dark road haunted by demons of guilt and memory--and letting patient, loving Becky into his damaged and shuttered heart may be his only way back from Hell.

Montooth 3: Red Cross of Gold (Montooth Quintet) by Robert Jay The third book in the Montooth quintet follows the main characters as they finish high school while experiencing the advent of Rock n' Roll in the mid-Fifties. Off to college, Carty Andersson's archery skills and outspoken criticism of a professor, leads police to suspect her in a bizarre campus murder. Her friends in The Crew utilize their skills and display unquestioned loyalty as they attempt to save her while discovering and capturing the real killer. Meanwhile, her close friend and high school roommate, Elena Rafferty, joins the forces of Fidel Castro as he begins his quest to take power in Cuba. The infamous Cruz Cruz, teaming with actress-singer Sara Ann Dan, manipulates both sides of the Cuban Revolution as it marches closer to finality. Sally, the erstwhile witch from the initial book, Montooth and the Canfield Witch, exposes ancient family history to show origins of her enormous cache of gold, jewels, and other property. Smithsonian researches trace it from King Solomon's mines to the Templar warrior monks in France and Scotland, to Colonial America to the swamps of Florida. Author Jay includes his signature Montooth fable, this time involving the title character alligator and beehives.

Higgledy Piggledy by Benton Seymour Rabinovitch Curly, Twirly, Whirly, and Higgledy Piggledy are four brother piglets who live a happy life together in the sun. With no sweet name to rhyme with the rest of his family, poor Higgledy Piggledy wishes he were more like his brothers. When scary Mr. Wolf moves in next door, hes hungry for ham. As Curly, Twirly, Whirly, and Higgledy Piggledy attempt to outwit and outrun their sly neighbor, the little piglets learn a big life lesson about whats truly in a name.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, this is Kathleen Kent the author of The Traitor's Wife. Evidently there is another book by that title by Allison Pataki, but the summary of the book plot given on this page is mine. Thank so much.

    ReplyDelete