The Lane Betrayal (February, 2020)By John Heldt
Historical Fiction
If you could time travel back to April 1865 and foil the plans of John Wilkes Booth, would you do it? Should you?
Those are some of the questions raised in this delightful historical fiction novel by John Heldt. The U.S. Civil War comes alive in this captivating and clever high octane novel in a skillful blend of historical fiction, suspense, gentle romance, and what ifs?
By Jared Woods
Non-fiction
Elvis put it this way:
Well, since my baby left me
Well, I found a new place to dwell
Well, it’s down at the end of Lonely Street
At Heartbreak Hotel…
If you’re looking to check out of Heartbreak Hotel and exit Lonely Street, you may want to consider Heartbreak Sucks: How to Get Over Your Break-Up in 30 Days.
“Hey Mom!” says I. “How ’bout we do something special for Valentine’s Day?”
“What’d you have in mind, Kimber?” replies Mom. She’s doing that smiley eyes thing again.
“How ’bout we invite one of our new favorite authors to do a guest post? We could ask the Camino de Santiago walk lady. Cathay O. Reta and Keep Walking: You Heart Will Catch Up. Tell us what she’s up to. Any new books in the pipeline. Lessons learned. What’s next. What about Ray? Perfect for this Valentine’s thingy!”
“Kimber, you’re a genius!”
Mom’s nothing if not quick.
So here, without further barking, is Cathay’s guest post. You’re gonna enjoy this! Take it away, Cathay:
‘Tis the month for love and romance and all things heartfelt. That includes good books and good food! In fact, what better way to kick off Valentine’s month than with pairing some great love stories with great food!
The titles below feature love stories flavored with rich, robust writing. Also links to a culinary idea or two you can savor before, after, or while you’re turning pages.
Some of these titles may be familiar. Some may be new. Some may surprise you. Just don’t get so engrossed in the plot that you neglect to mind the stove, okay?
Ready? Set? Grab your book. Head to the nearest kitchen and Let’s Go!
Kimber here. You already know that one of us is super stingy with uber high ratings (Hi, Mom). But every once in a while, a book comes along that makes the grade. Keep Walking, Your Heart Will Catch Up is one of those books.
We don’t say that often. So I’d listen up ‘fize you. Here’s why:
Fully AliveBy Michael J. Surdyka
Non-Fiction
“Imagine yourself as a warrior,” urges author Michael J. Surdyka in this frank, no-nonsense book on conquering addiction, both alcohol and drug. “If you want to keep your sobriety, you are required to fight for your life every single day.”
The author shows you how in this practical hands-on guide to lifelong sobriety.
Indeed, Fully Alive offers a powerhouse of perspective, support, understanding and practical advice for anyone battling an addiction or those who know someone battling same. What sets this book apart from many other resources on the topic is its emphasis on developing a Sobriety Blueprint and recovery plan specially and specifically tailored to each unique individual.
As explained in the Introduction, Fully Alive is:
![Immersed in West Africa: My Solo Journey Across Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea and Guinea Bissau (Kindle) (Travels With Terry Book 1) by [Terry Lister]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51bvoIeq9YL.jpg)
Amazon
By Terry Lister
Non-Fiction
Truth? When the author initially requested a review, I wasn’t interested. That’s cuz the last few travelogue/memoir type books I’ve read were redundant and as dull as dirt. Think moon rocks. Without the moon.
But the author was gently persistent. So I reluctantly agreed to read and review. (Which just shows you what I know.)
Turns out Immersed in West Africa is a delightful read. Here’s why:
Farm Tough, by Patrick Scott
Rebel Without a Cause meets Huck Finn, shakes hands with The Haymeadow and runs into Lord of the Flies in this “coming of age” story set in Yuba City, California.
The narrator, now age 70+ and dying of cancer, looks back on his summer of 1955. A spoiled rich kid, Ryan was twelve years old when he’s sent to spend the summer with his grandparents while his parents sort out a divorce.
Once in Yuba City, Ryan soon meets meets a bunch of local guys with majorly limited vocabularies. (Someone didn’t bother to read our submission guidelines. More on that in a min.) The boys skinny-dip in the Feather River, pilfer railroad ties to build a raft, and jump off a bridge. Ryan tries so hard to fit in, he lies to his grandparents about an overnight at the river.
Today we’re reviewing three outstanding novels. They’re all historical fiction. All are set during World War II. Anchoring these narratives are strong women who survive and flourish against the odds.
Mom says The Nightingale and Cilka’s Journey are two disturbing but outstanding reads. And that The Things We Cannot Say is one of the year’s best. (And she reads alot. When she’s not out walking with me.)
Taken together, these three novels may represent the “gold standard” for historical fiction.
So sit tight and get ready to dive in. Let’s go!
Your time is valuable, right? Especially when it comes to books.
That’s why Mom and I launched the BKLBITS (Big Kitty Litter Box In The Sky) Awards last summer. It was one of our most popular features. I mean, Holy Meow Mix! No one wants to waste their time on lousy snoozers littered with unsympathetic, cardboard characters we don’t know, don’t want to know, and could care less about.
Mom and me, we like to be helpful. As in, save you some time. So here, without any further ado, we’re rolling out BKLBITS Awards, Part II:
This book gets all kinds of rave reviews elsewhere. It’s supposedly about two brothers “whose fate is intertwined.”
So not impressed.
It takes seven chapters – we kid you not – for a laboring mother to give birth. Yea, verily. We don’t expect or require every book to move at warp speed. But this thing moves with the alacrity of a three-toed sloth. Bye!
We received a request to review this international spy “thriller” novel in November. It’s supposedly about biological warfare, CIA spooks, Syrian arms dealers, thieves, contract killers and corporate espionage, punctuated by lots of gun play and a seemingly never-ending dead body count.
It was obvious early on that the author did not bother to read our submission guidelines. Or maybe he figured we wouldn’t notice just how majorly this thing sails outside our wheelhouse. Ugh. (Main character Ridley Fox gives stray alley cats a bad name.)
But a request is a request. So here’s our review:
If you gravitate toward trashy “thriller” books of the pulp fiction variety, this one’s for you. Otherwise, feel free to choose something more productive. Like watching grass grow.
“Beautiful forever” is a corporate slogan for Italianate floor tiles. That matters in Annawadi, a .miserable slum of Mumbai where residents young and old scrape out a meager existence in the shadow of luxury hotels and an international airport. Because this novel is all about mercurial promises that gleam like new tile but crack and crater the moment they’re set down or even lightly jostled.
This colorful novel centers around the “professional competition for trash” that keeps Annawadi barely alive, eking out bare subsistence in a society roiling with corruption, disease, poverty, and squalor.
A Pulitzer Prize nominee for general nonfiction, this story is reasonably engaging. It’s beautifully written. But you may find its pace uneven and the plot plodding.
This book is an ambitious effort, spanning multiple generations and relationships. That’s part of its problem. There’s no real cohesive, unifying theme. It’s all over the place. The result is a confusing, muddled morass of artificial emotion and manufactured pathos. For example, the godfather/goddaughter relationships between Michael and Lori seems artificial. Like it’s trying too hard to make up for deficits in Lori’s upbringing.
There’s also a recurring issue with print quality. Numerous pages sport smudged ink and blurred paragraphs.
Additionally, the characters are hackneyed, the plot humdrum. While the story had potential, much of it is frittered away scampering down multitudinous bunny trails and story arcs that are tangentially connected at best.
Unfortunately, story threads don’t really start coming together until around page 300. Only the most diligent of readers is likely to wait that long before beating a hasty retreat to the nearest exit. (Read our full review here.)
A man wakes up in a Russian hospital. He has no idea who he is, how he got there, or what year it is. He gradually realizes he’s been in cryo storage for most of the 20th century. Memories of his grandmother reading Robinson Crusoe, a summer dacha, a murder, the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 and a barbaric gulag bubble to the surface as aviator Platonov tries to make sense of who he is, where he is, and why.
Reminiscent of Boris Pasternak and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, ‘The Aviator’ is also dense. At times it’s even oblique in the tradition of Franz Kafka.
The narrative is packed with details and rich descriptions of people, events, and observances that are seemingly superfluous or irrelevant. Connecting the dots into some semblance of coherence can be a challenge, perhaps mirroring the mental and physical deterioration of the main character.
Snorefest!
One of the best historical fiction books we’ve ever read! Stay tuned!
Pages & Paws 