The New Book Review

This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.

Showing posts with label Nonfiction: Creative Nonfiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nonfiction: Creative Nonfiction. Show all posts

Thursday, October 1, 2020

Poet LB Sedlacek Reviews Stefanie Hutchenson's "True Stories"



Title: “The Adventures of George and Mabel”

Subtitle: Kind of, sort of, could be! True Stories 

Genre: Creative Nonfiction or based on more almost (Kind of? Sort of? Could be!) True Stories

Author: Stefanie Hutchenson

ASIN: B086J31PX3

Available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/35VubSA


Reviewed by LB Sedlacek


George and Mabel and a host of new characters (or real life folks depending on how well you know the real George and Mabel) are back with a host of new adventures and fun filled tales. This is sweet southern liter

ature at its finest, reading these stories simply make you feel good all the way around or make you think about things just a little more.


Hutcheson derives her tales from real life events that she makes into heart warming or heart wrenching stories take your emotional pick. As an avid reader, I like to be entertained and escape into the book when I read. These stories center around “Charlie Brown,” family meals, one tube of Chapstick gone awry, almost running out of gas in the NC mountains and so many other wonderful spontaneous moments. Reading Hutcheson’s writing is like cuddling up on the couch with a blanket watching a favorite movie or sitting in your reading ch

air or nook enjoying a book, newspaper or e-book.


In this follow up to the first book, you will get to experience more of the love and companionship shared by the two main characters and how they live their lives with a sense of upbeat curiosity. These tales even at the most poignant moments will brighten your day. You’ll have a good time reading this, I sure did!


More About the Author


Stefanie Hutcheson (1963-) grew up in Burnsville, North Carolina. Although it took her nearly nineteen years, Stefanie finally completed her BA at Mars Hill College in 1999. Prior to graduation, she spent several years as a wife and mother, raising her family in Mills River, NC, before moving to Lenoir, where she now resides.

lbsedlacek@gmail.com

lbsedlacek


More About the Reviewer


LB Sedlacek’s is the author of several books of poetry including “The Poet Next Door” (Cyberwit), “Happy Little Clouds” (Guerrilla Genesis Press), “The Adventures of Stick People on Cars” (Alien Buddha Press) and “Words and Bones” (Finishing Line Press). Her first short story collection, “Four Thieves of Vinegar & Other Short Stories” came out on Leap Day 2020 from Alien Buddha Press. Find out more: http://www.lbsedlacek.com Reach her at lbsedlacek@gmail.com. Tweet with her @lbsedlacek




oet LB Sedlacek Reviews Stefanie Hutchenson's "True Stories"


More About the Blogger and What This Blog Offers
  
 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.



Note about other #TheNewBookReview free services: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too!

Lois W. Stern, educator, anthology editor, and authors' advocate, offers a way for authors, readers, and publishers to find new reviewers for their books. It's also a way for reviewers to find new books at no charge. Find her submission guidelines in the tabs at the top of The New Book Review home page.  

 Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing

Thursday, September 7, 2017

University Librarian Reviews Creative Nonfiction


Interweavings
Subtitle: Creative Nonfiction
Author: Carol Smallwood
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Publisher: Shanti Arts Publishing, Brunswick, Maine, 2017
ISBN 978-1-941830-46-8
Paperback, $16.95, 162 pages.
Purchase from Amazon

Reviewed by Patti Gibbons originally for Amazon
Accomplished author, poet, and editor Carol Smallwood’s latest offering, Interweavings: Creative   Shanti Arts Publishing, 2017, is a collection of essays that offers readers a chance to view select moments of Smallwood’s life where she pauses, as a woman and as a writer, to reflect, analyze, and contemplate the interconnectedness of her earlier self, life’s universal moments, and the outlook that comes with the passage of time. Smallwood’s perspective brings strength ingrained in her as a member of her generation’s feminist movement, a theme that supports the overarching tone of the collection of essays.

Smallwood’s assembly of over forty essays are organized into seven thematic chapters, and work on the individual essay level, as groups of essays, and finally as a whole collection. Looking at the mundane, such as visits to the post office or to the library, Smallwood works in an accessible realm, one which readers of all backgrounds can relate to, but her voice filters her experiences through her vantage point, namely as a woman born in a pivotal generation, and through it rings a perspective that prompts readers to go beyond an interpretation of her stories as descriptive pieces, to a body of work that provides a faceted look at the small moments of life that communicates deeper meanings and speaks to experiences Smallwood narrates from her reflections across her lifetime. Smallwood shares her private thoughts in clear and uncensored terms, not for shock value, but as a reflective simplicity that has come clearer into view as she benefits from the long view of maturity.

Interweavings: Creative Nonfiction is a peek into a writer’s sketchbook, a collection of ponderings and meditations when the author encounters silently powerful moments in her everyday life, and rubs and massages them to tease out the emotional underpinnings and delineates how each speaks not only to the conversation at hand, but to deeper dialogues when examined in light of a lifetime of living and experience. The perspective presented in the individual essays is perhaps clarified by the writing process, and Smallwood, as an author skilled in many genres, is able to share feelings, sentiments, and wisdom with an apparent simplicity and economy of words, due in large part to her mastery as a writer. Smallwood’s Interweavings: Creative Nonfiction shows universal expressions of feeling.

Readers of all backgrounds could easily connect with the themes, and readers seeking to examine American life and the life of twentieth century women, in particular, would delight in the insight Smallwood provides, and the honest reflections she shares. Smallwood’s essays leak with quiet sentiment and encourage readers to approach her prose intuitively. Honest and uncoated, Smallwood evenhandedly leads readers through a series of richly described vignettes that are relatable and prompt readers to interject themselves into the circumstances she writes about, to experience situations first-handedly themselves, as well as on behalf of the author.

As Dr. William Brevda, Professor of English at Central Michigan University, aptly points out in the foreword, “What Smallwood has written is literature. It has staying power.” Through her descriptive yet careful voice, Smallwood candidly captures how she experiences daily life through the medium of language in a profound manner that reaches the level of lasting art.  

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Patti Gibbons works at the University of Chicago Library in the Special Collections Research Center. 


MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG


 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ). This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Friday, July 7, 2017



Interweavings 
Genre: Creative Nonfiction
Author: Carol Smallwood
Publisher: Shanti Arts Publishing, Brunswick, Maine, 2017
SBN 978-1-941830-46-8, paperback
$16.95, 
162 pages
Available on Amazon


Reviewed by Vera Gubnitskaia originally for Literary Yard

Interweavings: Creative Nonfiction is a mosaic. There is a gentle ebb and flow of threads of with children, cancer, marriage, friends, losses. And yet, you catch yourself, while reading and after you finish, thinking about your own life. Not comparing, no, just thinking, remembering, feeling. As if reading these lines, sentences, paragraphs, wakes something up, lifts a corner of a drape with a gentle breeze. Softly reminds you of pieces and interweavings of your past, of wonders of the present, of anticipation of the future.

This is a collection of shimmering bits and pieces of excellent prose. It is written by an accomplished poet, and sometimes it feels like it is written in verse. It is tempting to read it in one gulp, the collection is small and is deceptively easy to glide through; resist the urge to finish it in one sitting. Sip it slowly, reflect, put aside, reflect some more, come back. Take another taste, repeat as necessary. Enjoy the music, smile at the recollection of an episode from Columbo. Climb library steps. Grieve about a lost friend. Feel alive.


MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Vera Gubnitskaia is a  Reference Librarian for Valencia College in Winter Park, Florida. She reviews for Literary Yard. 



MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG


 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ). This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Saturday, January 30, 2016

Interview: Creative Nonfiction Writer Gives Career Advice to Budding Authors



Hi! I am Carolyn Howard Johnson, your trusty New Book Review blogger and author of the multi award-winning HowTo Do It Frugally Series of books for writers. This blog has heretofore been exclusive for reviews but I thought I’d do a special series of interviews after I chatted with Jeanie Loiacono, President of Loiacono Literary Agency – Where ‘can’t’ is not in our vocabulary!  I thought sharing the interviews would help the many subscribers and visitors to this New Book Review blog, including authors, reviewers, and, of course, readers who just might find a new favorite author among the featured books and authors.

So, today welcome Diane Yates.

Diane Yates is a member of the Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writer’s Guild and the President of the Ozarks Writers League.  The sequel to Pathways of the Heart, All That Matters, is due for release April 2016.

What is your genre? Is it fiction or nonfiction? My first two books, Pathways of the Heart and All That Matters, are creative nonfiction.

What made you want to be a writer? I write to be read. From a young age, I wrote skits and loved creating or telling a story. My desire is to evoke feelings from my readers: feelings of joy, peace, love, romance, and empathy, just to name a few. I would love for them to laugh, cry, and rally for my protagonists. When they read the words ‘THE END,’ and close the cover, nothing would please me more than if the book they’d just finished would inspire them to be a better person. Change the world, so-to-speak, one reader at a time.

Of all the authors out there, who inspired you most? As a teenager, I waited eagerly for the release of Jane Aiken Hodge’s next book, which was about one a year. I devoured each one with its strong female protagonist immersed in diverse conflicts set amidst riveting historical events. As an adult, there are many authors such as Tom Clancy, John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks, Janette Oke, LaVyrle Spencer, and Karen Kingsbury.

What is your writing style? Do you outline? Linearly? By scene? Why? I find that I outline by scene. In writing creative nonfiction, I don’t want to miss pivotal points that often add to the complex character of my hero or heroine. Outlining helps me see the big picture.

Do you write every day? How much? How long? My goal is to write each day. However, it’s important for me to be inspired, and, when that inspiration arrives, I follow, no matter how long the journey.

Do you think reading is as important to writing for an author? Why? For me, I love to read, and I’m sure I learn writing techniques and style in the process.

     What are some of the things you would like to share with budding authors? When I began writing novels, I forgot to pray for direction. Instead I was writing just for fun. My advice for budding authors is to seek guidance regarding the purpose of your writing. Whether it’s fiction or whatever genre, you want people to read your work. Consider how your words are adding to the lives of your readers. E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, said, A writer has the duty to be good, not lousy; true, not false; lively, not dull; accurate, not full of error. He should tend to lift people up, not lower them down. Writers do not merely reflect and interpret life, they inform and shape life.”

Do you have any marketing and promotional advice, referrals, tips you would like to share? I struggle with marketing and promotion and therefore welcome advice from others instead of sharing my lack of knowledge!

Do you think conferences are beneficial? If so, what have you learned? Which ones do you frequent? Connecting with other writers and industry professionals at a conference, and learning from them, is vital in improving your craft. I’m a member of local writing groups, such as the Ozarks Writers League and The Columbia Writers Guild, and attend their conferences as well as others that offer topics or speakers of interest.

      Where can we find you, your books and when is your next event? My website contains information about my books, my faith, and other personal data. My book, Pathways of the Heart may be found on: Amazon  Hudson Book Sellers  B&N  BAM  IndieBound  The Book Depository  Shelfari  GoodReads Pathways of the Heart Reviews I will be speaking on the consequences of “Choices Along our Path” at the Meet the Authors Festival on Saturday February 6, 2016 from 9:30 am to 2:00 pm at Kimberling Area Library (KAL), 45 Kimberling Blvd, Kimberling City, MO 65686. http://www.kalib.org/  www.dianeyates.com Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency, Jeanie Loiacono http://www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com/authors/diane-yates/
    
MORE ABOUT THE SPONSORING AGENTS

Jeanie Loiacono, President, Loiacono Literary Agency
A facilitator of dreams, Jeanie Loiacono represents over eighty authors. Her forte is mystery, romance, thrillers, historical/military/southern fiction, and all quality fiction/nonfiction. Her passion is to see her authors succeed.
“There is nothing more rewarding than to hold one of my author’s books and know I helped bring it to fruition. I am so blessed and privileged to be able to work with some of the most talented writers in the world.” Jeanie.L@llallc.net  www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com



IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE INTERVIEWS--TO FIND GREAT READING OR TO NETWORK WITH AUTHORS--PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG. YOU ARE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THIS FAMILY WHO LOVES BOOKS! YOU'LL FIND A WINDOW TO DO THIS AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG PAGE.

----- 

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Author Consultant Loves New Memoir

Title: The Crazy Floridan and the Birds...or the Search for
Feather Presents
Author: Jean Williams
Author Website: featherpresents.wordpress.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/featherpresents
FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/Featherpresents?fref=ts
Book trailer: N/A
ISBN:978-1511489256
Genre: Creative nonfiction (memoir written in 3rd person)

Reviewed by: Teresa Morrow

This book, The Crazy Floridian and the Birds..., gives the reader
insight from a woman whose purpose is about sharing love, pure
and simple. She shares her journey from childhood to adulthood
and seeking who she is and her place in the world while finding
what matters to her. It a heartfelt story that showcases love
for people as humans at its core as she incorporates her
discovering of bird watching and how it fills her with joy.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jean Williams is an autistic woman who grew up the only child of
brilliant parents who never sought a diagnosis for her, seeing
her only as difficult, problematic and an under-achiever.
 Diagnosed as a young adult, Jean struggled for years with
issues of self-esteem, and never even hoped to find self-love.
 An unfulfilling career as a Software Engineer, and difficulties
making and keeping friendships added to her view of herself as a
failure.  Realizing finally that she never had to live up to the
ideals of her parents - and looking to find and live only toward
her own ideals has finally helped her to live her a life of
happiness.


ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Teresa Morrow, The Spiritual Author's Cheerleader, is a writer's coach and online book marketing consultant. She hosts "Inspiration Nation Radio" where she shares inspiration through the world of words. She is also the author of
Life Lessons from the Heart and Healing from Broken Trust: A Journey of Transformation,

-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

An Abduction Revelation
by Thomas Hay
Author website: www.thomaslhay.com
Genre: Science Fiction based on memoir
ISBN: 978-1-4525-5956-8 (e)
978-1-4525-5957-5 (sc)

 

Reviewed by Michala Teelucksingh orignally BiteMyBook 
Rating: 8.5 out of 10

 

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJRyYbK6NXI/UTGw66oPbKI/AAAAAAAAG4Q/zm2IokYdIfw/s1600/abduction+2.jpgReviewed by Michala Teelucksingh.

I must admit I struggled a bit over this book. I didn't struggle with reading it. Reading it was easy as the author made the story relatable to people, often times reminiscing about his past as he built his way to the meat of the story. Consider it an appetizer portion to the main course. LOL No, what I struggled with was whether the writer intended to make this a ‘real’ memoir, such as creative nonfiction-ish or whether it was all meant to be an attractive fantasy/sci-fi imaginative tale.

The reason why I say this is because the story is so very ‘real’ in the sense of his backstory. I could completely close my eyes and conjure up the scenery and the things he was speaking about. These memoirs are truly very realistic to a point and then you sorta start wading through the murkiness of what is fact and what is fiction. THIS is the true appeal of the entire novel. You’ve been reading so much that sounds real that when the writer throws you a curve ball you have to blink, stand back, and say…is that for real? This was the genius part to the book.

See, the author penned his memoirs and then he seemingly unearthed memories buried deep within his subconscious. He can’t be sure…but he has to trust his mind…and all those memories, but it’s difficult because his memories are telling him he’s been abducted by aliens. Whoa? What? Yeah…really, an alien abduction is sifting through his inner workers and is resurfacing.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C7YbwUyBEs4/UTGxSJM1I5I/AAAAAAAAG4Y/fTZmEZFe5PQ/s1600/thomas+hay.jpgReading through his ‘growing up’ stage in Missouri seems like it’s simply a memoir and nothing but….but it’s really much more. There is reasoning and while you are pondering through his life…and recollecting pieces of your own, the author is setting up for the bigger stage. I can’t tell you exactly how the story takes a wide turn and begins the eccentric and bizarre road that includes aliens, time travel, and more. (Remember, I don’t do spoilers!)

I suggest you set time away and read it as much as you can during one book reading. If you space the readings out you are likely to lose connection with the importance of the smaller plots and how they arrive to the real storyline. Take it on vacation with you, or on that long car ride you have, or the next time you have two or three days off in a roll. Dedicate yourself to it because if and when you do, you’re in for a very unique ride of your life. You’ll be left wanting to explore parts of your own life, search for parts and places around the world, and you’ll be challenged by the question…was this real?
 

-----

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Bengal Book Award Winner Historically Accurate

River Passage
by p.m. terrell
Bengal Book Award


River Passage by p.m. Terrell recently won Best Fiction and Drama for 2010 in the Bengal Book Awards. The Nashville Metropolitan Government Archives has determined that River Passage is so historically accurate they have entered Ms. Terrell's original manuscript into the Archives for future researchers and historians.

River Passage is based on the true story of the Donelson journey that left Virginia bound for Fort Nashborough (now Nashville, TN) in the fall of 1779. Their goal was to bring businessmen and community leaders westward to expand America. Terrell's ancestors, the Neely family, were on that expedition. The trip was expected to take four weeks. Instead, more than four months after they left, a ragtag group of survivors limped into Fort Nashborough with a harrowing tale. Their river journey had taken them through hostile Indian Territory at the height of the Chickamauga Indian War. They also faced frostbite, near starvation, disease, deadly rapids --and a mutiny. The Indians attacked them over hundreds of miles, capturing some of the settlers, killing or wounding others, and leaving a few to tell the tale.

For more information about the journey, visit http://maryneely.com/journey.htm and for more information about the author, visit www.pmterrell.com.

Terrell is also the author of the historical suspense Songbirds are Free acclaimed suspense/thrillers Exit 22, Ricochet, Kickback, and The China Conspiracy and four nonfiction how-to books on using computers.

-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using the widget below:

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Sensitive Heterosexual Male Shares

Sensitivity 101 For The Heterosexual Male
By Philip Nork
ISBN: 9781438967448 (PB)
ISBN: 9781438967455 (HC)
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Genre: Narrative Nonfiction

Reviewed By Tara Hopkins of Apex Reviews www.apexreviews.net

Official Apex Reviews Rating: 5 stars


The age-old “Battle Of The Sexes” is still going just as strong as it ever was--and chances are it won’t lose any steam anytime soon. So, rather than lament the fact that the game exists, men and women around the world are instead better off learning to play it to the best of their ability.

Such is the premise behind Sensitivity 101 For The Heterosexual Male.

Skillfully penned by author Philip Nork, Sensitivity 101 is less a self-help guide to
relationships and more a vicarious journey through one man’s quest for self discovery.

Along the way, Phil--playing the role of his own protagonist--learns to appreciate the fairer sex and develops a higher understanding of just what it takes to make them happy. In so doing, he ultimately becomes the desire of all women--and the envy of all men--and provides readers with invaluable insights into improving their own relationships.

Straightforward and refreshingly candid, Sensitivity 101 For The

Heterosexual Male is an impressive presentation of a life with a plethora of
helpful lessons to share. Highly recommended for anyone seeking to cut through
the typical facade of relationship “politics” and learn the roots of true, lasting
happiness.
-----
Follow the author on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Sensitivity101 and on Twitter - @Sensitivity101

-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by author names, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the index handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.
And while you're at it, as a courtesy to the author, please retweet this post:

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

College Instructor Reviews Western Creative Nonfiction

Fly With The Mourning Dove
By Velda Brotherton
Creative non fiction
ISBN 1-4241-5904-0
Publish America


REVIEW by Dr. Loren GruberOriginally published on Publish America's website

Velda Brotherton delivers again. Gleaned from the diaries of Cassie Smith and her daughter Edna, Fly with the Mourning Dove captures the struggles of two women to civilize their portions of the West.

Quoting material from their diaries, Brotherton reconstructs their lives at the beginning of the twentieth century.

They "cowboy up" as tuberculosis ravages the lungs of Finas, their husband and father; as drought ravages their land; as the Great Depression ravages the economy. While butchering a turkey, overcoming frontier loneliness, and eating porcupine, Cassie and Edna each learn to be as tough and tenacious as the West itself.
Brotherton recreates especially endearing scenes when Edna discovers herself. She roars through the boarding house with her Indian-scalping playmates, prepares for her first Communion, lives the life of a cowpuncher, and teaches her first grade school class.

Young Edna asks permission to accompany her father on his trip to fetch water at Taos Junction, New Mexico.

"No," her mother replies, "I said no. You stay here and we'll make some clothes for the fairies. They have missed you terribly and are practically going naked."
Although Edna thought the notion of naked fairies silly, one can imagine that she grew up with Palmer Cox's Brownie Books, Andrew Lang's Fairy Books, and perhaps Art Nouveau semi-nude fairies.

In her later years, Edna writes, "All my life has been packed away in little boxes." Lucky for us, she did.

Still luckier for us, Brotherton carefully unpacks each to display memorable scenes of Edna's life.

Fly with the Mourning Dove is a welcome addition to turn-of-the-century "civilized" memoirs that include Virginia Cary Hudson's O Ye Jigs and Juleps, Dorothy Daniel's Circle 'round the Square, and Clarence Day's Life with Father.

The difference is that Velda Brotherton draws us into the lives of two women who helped shape the West, Edna and Cassie Smith. We are all the richer for it.
------
Loren Gruber is former Dean of the Arts and Humanities Division at Missouri Valley College, Marshall, Missouri. He continues to teach English there.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

History and A Great Story Rolled Into One

In the Shadow of Suribachi
By Joyce Faulkner
Red Engine Press
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 9780974565202
Adult/Creative Nonfiction
Author's Site: http://home.comcast.net/~joycefaulkner/suribachi.htm
Contact Reviewer: HojoNews@aol.com
Rating: 5 of 5








Emerging Author Joyce Faulkner
Designs New Kind of Literature


If reviewing were a different sort of animal I could probably pen three lines of 17 syllables, wind up with haiku that would remain with the reader and call it day. I could describe In the Shadow of Suribachi by Joyce Faulkner with words like "heartfelt, consummate skill, emotional and bloody," fool a bit with the caesuras and stresses and--perhaps--give readers a better sense of the soul of the book.

Having said that, there is more to this work than its essence and prose will work better to explain that. Here the author assembles disparate events like the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane in Islmorada, Fl, the infamous kristallnacht, the 1942 circus fire in Cleveland. Each real-life event is told from the point of view of a character and may--at first--feel as if they are separate stories. If the reader listens carefully, however, she will hear the intimations in each of how these young men's futures will connect, how what has gone before will affect them later as Marines fighting and suffering in Iwo Jima in 1945.

This book is neither beast nor fowl. The stories (and story) are based on interviews and careful research so it is nonfiction. They are told with all the craft of a fiction writer; that makes it creative nonfiction. They are assembled in a way that would qualify it as a literary novel. A literary novel, after all, tells of the human condition. Characters in literary novels must be carefully drawn and readers should draw something from one that lives long after the last page is turned. This book, published by a new traditional press called the Red Engine Press, qualifies.
Readers should know that, though they may well be mesmerized by this story (stories), it is not easy reading. Endorsed by professionals from the Army's 101st Airborne Division to history teachers, it captures what Lt. Col. Dave Grossman calls "the reality of human aggression and combat." This is a time when we, as a nation, need to fully understand what we are sending our young men and women to do. To understand it may behoove us to visit--or revisit--Suribachi.

It won a Military Writers' Society of America gold meda.
------------
Carolyn Howard-Johnson’s first novel, This is the Place, has won eight awards. Harkening, a collection of stories, has won three and her how-to book for authors, THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T, is USA Book News' "Best Professional Book 2004." Her new chapbook of poetry, Tracings, to be includes her own childhood memories of WWII. It is also a Militar Writers' Society Award-Winner. She wrote a foreword for another Support Our Troops, published by Andrews McMeel. Learn more about her at: http://carolynhoward-johnson.com or www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.)