New Release - Elusive Hope - MaryLu Tyndall

Dear Readers,

Book #2 in the Escape to Paradise, Elusive Hope continues the story of the colony started in Brazil by those who were loyal to the South during the Civil War.  There really was a colony that was started in Brazil, not quite in the area that MaryLu describes but close.  It is one of those things that you can look up on line and find out more about their story.

Hayden has been trying to track down his scoundrel of a father and he believes he may have finally found him in South America.  He has vowed revenge against the man whom Hayden believes killed hi mother. 

Magnolia did not sign up for the move to Brazil, her father made the choice to escape the turmoil after the Civil War.  She misses everything she believes she deserves - pretty dresses, handsome suitors and slaves to wait on her every whim.  Looking for a way out Magnolia sees Hayden as a chance to get back to the South she loves.

MaryLu is known for writing historical romances about little known subjects in America's history, but she also loves to write about the South.  She gives you an enchanting story of love in spite of the couple best efforts to not fall in love with each other.

Happy Reading,

New Release - The First Phone Call from Heaven - Mitch Albom

Dear Readers,

Around here I am not sure if Mitch Albom is best known for his Detroit new columns or his best selling books or his play he wrote about Ernie Harwell the voice of the Detroit Tigers.  So when his new book The First Phone Call from Heaven hit the shelves there was more than one person looking for it.

What if you received a phone call from a loved one, someone that had past away?  What would your reaction be?  Sully Harding has returned to Coldwater Michigan on the same day as those first phone calls started coming through.  While the world takes notice, Sully is doubtful an sets out to prove that the calls are just a cruel joke from a very sick mind. 

Mitch has a folksy way of telling a story that makes you want to believe it is real.  The characters of his stories make us want to be a better person.  And sooner or later it seems like everyone is reading his books and talking about them.  They are the type of book that seems to draw a wide variety of readers and that is what makes them so interesting, you can have a conversation with your co-worker, a family member or that stranger that rides the bus with you. 

The books raise questions that beg a discussion and sooner or later you need to find someone to talk it through.  But that is what makes the story even better and last longer, the chance to work through the high points.

Happy Reading,

New Releases - Nov. 11 - 16

Dear Readers,

As I start this list for the books that have arrived in the store this week, it is raining/snowing around here.  It just seems early for snow, but I have been reassured that it is very normal for Michigan to get snow in Nov.  I just know that I am not ready for cold, wind and snow.  It just makes me want to curl up with a good book and not poke my nose out again until spring.

Happy Reading

The First Phone Call From Heaven - Mitch Albom - On the same morning that Sully Harding is released from prison is the same day the first phone calls start happening.  Phone calls from people to their loved ones.  Which doesn't sound so unusual except the one that is calling is dead.  Sully sets out to prove it is all faked by some with a sick sense of humor.

Plain Peace - Beth Wiseman - #6 in the Daughters of Promise series - Anna should have the pick of eligible young men in their community, but because her grandfather set in place rules to be followed, no one dares court her.  That is until Jacob comes to town and decides it is worth the risk.

Kiss of Revenge - Debbie Viguie - #3 in the Kiss series - Susan and her friends are preparing for their most important battle with the vampire Richelieu.  (from the backcover)

New Release - Kiss of Revenge - Debbie Viguie

Dear Readers,

I don't know if I have mentioned it, but I am not that into Vampire books.  I have never read the Twilight books and I have only read a couple of Anne Rice's books, as good as those are.  It isn't something I really enjoy reading as most of them are really creepy and I am not really into horror.  Dracula was evil personified and some have taken that to a new level.  There are interesting ones out there, but mostly they are just gory.

That is until I was asked to read book #1 in the Kiss trilogy by Debbie Viguie, Kiss of Night.  I flew through the book and could hardly wait for book #2 Kiss of Death, but then book #3 has been a little wait, but thankfully Kiss of Revenge is finally in our hands and we can fight along side Susan and Wendy and their little band that stands between the Vampires and world domination.

From what I understood, Debbie started this series with the thought, could a vampire be saved.  Can something so evil actually become a believer?  With the answer being yes, Debbie wrote a couple of very interesting characters into her books.  One being a monk who was a vampire and a one who was fighting for humans, Raphael.  It made for some thought-provoking reading. 

Susan and Wendy are ready to fulfill their destiny.  They need to fight Richelieu and his growing band of vampires for supremacy of the world.  The vampires are ready to take over and make humans their slaves and the only thing that stands between them is a little group that stands divided right now.  Can they discover the secret of the cross before it is to late?

These books have been great fun to read.  They are fast paced, with great characters and a story line that leaves you wanting to turn the page as quickly as possible.  I really wish there was more in the series, but thankfully Debbie has loads of other books that are just as good to read.

Happy Reading,

Shawn Hoffman

Dear Readers,

 

Samson by Shawn Hoffman was one of the toughest books I have read in a long time.  It wasn't because of the writing, it was the subject matter.  Shawn takes the stories of several different Jews who were sentenced to Auschwitz during World War II and compiles them into one man's story. 

 

Now there really was an Olympic Boxer who, because he was a Jew, was sent to Auschwitz where he was noticed by not only the commandant of Auschwitz but also Doctor Mengele.  As really happened, in this story he and his family are threatened with death if he loses his weekly fights, but they will receive extra rations and maybe even freedom if he continues to win.

 

I will tell you right now this book is not for the faint of heart.  I have had to lay it aside a couple of times and read something lighter because of man's inhumanity to man.  The stories that are shared makes this a book that can haunt your dreams and you sometimes have to step away from it to remember that God is still in control.

 

Because Samson's story is more than one person's story it sometimes gets a bit overwhelming.  It makes it unbearable sometimes, but that people actually survived these horrors is amazing to me.  How did they not just lay down and die of a broken heart when they understood what was happening to their loved ones in the gas chambers and other places in the camp. 

 

Stories like these have often made me wonder about the men and women that were in charge of the camp and how they dealt with the awfulness they were doing to the people inside their prison walls.  Samson gives a brief glimpse of things the soldiers that guarded the prisoners went through themselves and what they did to dis-associate themselves from what they did.  Now I don't think they are any more right, but sometimes for the guards it was do what was commanded or end up in the gas chambers yourself.

 

This is not an easy read, this is not a book to read if you are struggling with depression yourself, but it is a good read to get a small picture of what life was like in a death camp.  

 

Happy Reading 

New Release - Rest Not in Peace - Mel Starr

Dear Readers,

I have read the other 5 books in the Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon series.  They are an interesting read about life and crime in medieval England.  Because of the very different perspective on both of those it has made the series very interesting.  Book #6 Rest Not in Peace by Mel Starr just hit our shelves and I am going to have to add it to the 'to be read' list.

Hugh de Singleton practices medicine in a time when there was very little to go on.  They didn't know a lot about the human body and the best way to put someone to sleep for surgery was a stiff drink.  After reading about some of the things they did to try to make some one healthy again, I had decided I will stay in the is century, of course the living conditions are also something I would not like.  I like electricity and running water. 

Master Hugh finds himself asked once again to solve a mystery for Lord Gilbert.  Sir Henry Burley needs help sleeping and Hugh is asked to mix him a sleeping potion.  When Sir Henry heads to bed he seems perfectly healthy, but the next morning he is dead.  So not only does Hugh have to find the real killer, he needs to prove his is innocent.

Once again Hugh needs to solve a crime without using any modern tools.  No finger prints, no incriminating emails or phone calls, no way of telling who is telling the truth or lying.  He needs to just go on instinct and hopefully before he is thrown in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

I love walking along side Hugh as he tries to figure out the clues.  Mel makes sure we get the clues with Hugh to see if we can solve the puzzle before Hugh does.  It is the 'old fashion' way of doing things, but it is a refreshing way to solve crimes.  Well at least in between the covers of a good book.

Happy Reading.

New Release - Sweet Olive - Judy Christie

Dear Readers,

Sweet Olive is the newest release of Judy Christie.  She live in Louisiana and that comes through in her fiction books as she sets many of her stories there.  Which of course gives her books a good southern flair.

In Sweet Olive Camille agrees to one last assignment from her uncle for his natural gas company.  All she has to do is get the population of the area to agree to give up their mineral rights and the use of their water to drill for natural gas.  Sound simple?  It is not something that Camille likes to do, but she feels obligated to her Uncle. 

The only problem is the town she needs to go to is Samford, Louisiana, the one place on earth she hoped to never return to.  A place where she has spent the worse month of her life.  But one she gets the meetings behind her she can move on to the art gallery job that is waiting for her.

Reading about the south and their warm weather is the perfect way to make those raw fall days that we are experiencing in Michigan right now, go by much faster.  Reading a lovely story to go along with it helps matters even more. 

So pull up a chair, pour some sweet tea and relax, let the winds howl it doesn't matter you are going to be in Louisiana.

Happy reading,