Monday, February 29, 2016

Books In For Review #bookreviews

Wowza! Check out all the books that have just arrived for review.  Reviews will be posted soon to both this blog as well as www.featheredquill.com (plus all our social media sites).







Flatlander and the Rise and Fall of Mike and the Ravens by Peter Young While the baby boomer generation gets a lot more press (not to mention prestige) these days, author Peter F. Young isn’t ready to let war babies–those born between 1938 and 1946—fade into the night without a turn in the spotlight. Like others in his generation, Young came of age during the early years of rock ‘n’ roll—and promptly fell in love with the so-called “devil’s music.” Like scores of other kids in small towns across America, Young not only worshipped rock stars, he dreamed of becoming one himself. But, unlike most of those other kids, he almost made it. In this charming, irreverent, and hilarious memoir, Young recalls his boyhood and teenage years in the small towns of rural Vermont and Northern New York State, home of the almost-famous Mike & the Ravens. Despite their shoddy equipment and decidedly un-rock ‘n’ roll upbringings, Young and his band mates managed to get signed by a record company, become regionally famous, pull a ton of stunts—including causing a rock album to be played over a church’s robust belfry speaker system at 2:00 a.m. and land in jail like real rock stars—and still grow up to become productive, contributing members of society.

When Bunnies Go Bad: A Pru Marlowe Pet Noir by Clea Simon Winter is hard in Beauville, where the melting snow can reveal much more than last season’s dead leaves. So when a wealthy, obnoxious tourist and his ski bunny girlfriend surface in Pru Marlowe’s little Berkshire town, she knows she should stay out of their way. The bad-girl animal psychic has to focus on more immediate concerns, including a wild rabbit named Henry, supposedly tamed and illegally living with an eighty-four-year-old lady in her home. Henry, who seems to be acting out and hiding, avoids responding to Pru. Yet when Pru discovers the tourist murdered and his girlfriend’s high-maintenance spaniel falls to her care, she gets dragged into a complicated case of crime and punishment that involves some new friends, an old nemesis, and her own shadowed past. A recent museum art heist draws the feds into the investigation along with a courtly gentleman radiating menace, who represents secretive business interests in New York and shows a surprising awareness of Pru. Her on-again, off-again romance with police Detective Creighton doesn’t stop him from warning her to steer clear of the inquiry. The spaniel, however, lures her in. Pru lives in a world where only her crotchety tabby Wallis knows the whole truth about her past, her flight from Manhattan, and her unique gift that surfaced abruptly one day. Fearing the worst, Pru now comes dangerously close to being exposed. With everything in motion, Pru, Wallis, and everyone they hold dear will be lucky to escape...by a hare.

DIYA: A Megawatt Approach to Change by Aruna Gurumurthy Have you ever woken up in the morning and wondered if you could have a Bible of Life to accompany your cuppa? That is, a set of tenets on how to deal with everyday life, its surprises, dispositions and disappointments? Have you ever wondered that to err is human but to be human our errors must be minimum? In other words, do you want to change the way you think, say and do, to minimize relationship tension, and let a contemporary and cool friend help you? How does a shift in thinking patterns lead to world peace? From time to time, you must have craved the honest opinion of someone that has dabbled in the biology, evolution and psychology of life and used candid and expressive language to bring forth her vitality. Have you fancied music to be your soulful element and a medium you might like to put to greater use but not sure exactly how? Do you want to undergo a mental and emotional catharsis? Do you ever wonder where a person gets her strength, conviction, uniqueness, ambition and unbridled optimism from? Using skills of in-depth analyses, cogency, candor and humor, author Aruna Gurumurthy has delivered her observations and reflections of every day and every year happenings, the past, the present, the future and everything in between. DIYA is a dream and a beacon. It aspires to bring character and organization to people’s thoughts and actions. It wishes to see a world where we interact with each other in a suave and friendly manner without feeling the need for heated emotional egress. Wouldn't we love to live in a world where people are accountable for their words and actions without causing harm to others?

Acea and the Animal Kingdom by Kyle Shoop Twelve-year-old Acea Bishop was always the nerdy kid who would rather go to the library during recess to read about animals instead of playing basketball like the other boys. Now, after being kidnapped and waking up inside of an ancient kingdom strangely resembling a zoo, Acea is running from those same animals he used to love reading about. Worse yet? Acea's not just on a quest to get home - his mom and the dad-he-never-knew are both being held hostage inside by an evil sorcerer with a vendetta. Realizing that his odds of survival and freeing his parents are slim, Acea raises an army of animals to combat the sorcerer and regain control of the kingdom. Follow Acea as he travels through the exotic zoo habitats in rooms labeled "aquarium," "safari," "jungle," "aviary," and "terrarium." Unlock secrets with Acea located deep inside the Animal Kingdom which reveal the kingdom's mysterious past and hold the key to Acea's fate. Acea has secrets. Big ones. He just doesn't know it yet.

Would a Worm Go On A Walk by Hannah C. Hall Would a worm go on a walk, if you could lead him down the street? / Would he wear his tiny tennies, if he had two worm-sized feet? So begins this humorous and imaginative picture book that introduces children to the idea that animals are uniquely created by a loving and wise God. Would a Worm Go on a Walk?, with its colorful, comical illustrations, is a fresh, fun way to teach young children that God created all things very good. He gave all the animals, and children, too, wonderful qualities and unique strengths. Children will giggle over the ridiculous scenarios presented, and they will come away with the knowledge that we all are loved and special.

Gardening Like a Ninja: A Guide to Sneaking Delicious Edibles into Your Landscape by Angela England Turn your yard into the envy of the neighborhood while adding to your dinner table! Learn how to garden like a ninja as you sneak in plants that you can use for everyday cooking, creating a sustainable and beautiful landscape that's easy to maintain. Save time and money using the visually appealing and edible designs and harvest the fruits from your delicious paradise!

Stress-Free Vegetable Gardening: Thriving Gardens with Minimal Effort by Caleb Warnock Save time and money in your garden! This book shows you exactly how easy it is to create an abundant crop with almost no effort. All you have to do is stop fighting against your garden's natural growing patterns and get out of Mother Nature's way; she'll do the hard work for you! With this book in hand, you can enjoy delicious harvests that come back year after year!

The Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas When it comes to family, Ruby Baxter hasn’t had much luck. The important men in her early life abandoned her, and any time a decent boyfriend came along, she ran away. But now Ruby is thirty-one and convinced she is failing her teenage daughter. Mia is the one good thing in her life, and Ruby hopes a move to Kansas will fix what’s broken between them. But the road to redemption takes a detour. Hank McArthur, the biological father Ruby never knew existed, would like her to claim her inheritance: a dusty oil ranch just outside of Unforgiven, Oklahoma. As far as first impressions go, the gruff, emotionally distant rancher isn’t what Ruby has hoped for in a father. Yet Hank seems to have a gift for rehabilitating abused horses—and for reaching Mia. And if Ruby wants to entertain the possibility of a relationship with Joe Dawson, the ranch foreman, she must find a way to open her heart to the very first man who left her behind.

The Chocolate Lover's Cookbook by Christina Dymock Silky smooth, rich, and delicious, chocolate is good for your taste buds and for your soul. With this decadently delicious collection of recipes--including sweets, drinks, and desserts to try--you'll never have to let your chocolate cravings go unsatisfied. So go ahead and indulge your inner chocoholic!

The Cost: My Life on a Terrorist Hit List Born into a prominent Shia Muslim family in Pakistan, Ali had it all—prestige, security, wealth, social status. The Cost is the extraordinary story of his dramatic encounter with Jesus that would change everything. That life-altering choice to follow Jesus would turn Ali from a typical teenager into a target of a terrorist organization based in his hometown—a target they would soon act on. The Cost is the riveting and remarkable journey of a young man who left everything behind to follow the one thing he knew to be true. Through excommunication from his home and family, near-death experience, a miraculous healing, and a cross-continental chase for his life, Ali’s faith sustained him while also compelling him to bring the gospel to Muslims—no matter the cost. This modern epic is a must-read for anyone who wants to be informed about the state of Christian-Muslim relations today, and inspired by just how much a single light in the darkness can make a difference.


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