Month: September 2014

+Blog Book Tour+ Vintage by Susan Gloss

Posted Monday, 22 September, 2014 by jorielov A Vintage Affair, HarperCollins Publishers, Isobel Wolff, Susan Gloss, Vintage, William Morrow 8 Comments

Vintage by Susan Gloss

one of The Débutante Ball bloggers of 2014 | the Blog & their Tweets

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)

Official Author Websites: Site | @susangloss| Facebook | Etsy Shoppe | Blog
Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Audiobook, & Ebook

Converse via: #Vintage

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Vintage” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

I hadn’t realised my hardback copy of “Vintage” was damaged until I started to read the novel itself, where pieces of the pages started to rip apart and shred right off individual pages of the novel. I found the culprit but could not do anything to stop it from continuing to happen as on page 155 all the pages were glued together! A sticky substance had attached itself to the top of the pages and therefore, try as I might to be gentle & delicate – the pages would not yield nor would they budge without causing them to rip either in full chunks or strips. Of course the worst part is that page 156 & 157 were glued *together!* and by pulling them apart I lost whole words, sentences, and saw all the ink obscured completely! :( I grieved for this novel at that point. I had tucked it’s story into my heart and although I was breathing in love with each page I had turnt, the novel simply was starting to fade away from me due to ‘glue’. When this happened, I knew I would lose the beautiful pace of what I was reading,… how could I not with ‘whole pages’ stuck to each other that could not be undone without ripping the book apart? I had to stop pulling page 156 – it was just too heart-wrenching. Part of the page was so thin in the upper paragraphs you could see right through the paper! :( I ended up missing an epic fight between April & Violet as pieces of the top pages of 158 & 160 ripped apart so I could start Chapter 15.

I decided not to let this deter my reading enjoyment but it proved to be quite of a challenge as it is the first time I received a book whose damage was quite literally making it difficult to read the story. Prior to page 155 each page I read had this unique slant to it, as it wouldn’t release from the top inside binding; therefore, I read this in a very creative way all the way around!

The hardest pill to swallow is that when I read novels which are new when they reach my hands, I’m the kind of gentle reader who can read the book without leaving a trace I’ve read the story. No bent pages in the upper corners (I use bookmarks), no writing inside the book (I couldn’t even do that with textbooks!), no eating of food that could transfer through my fingers (you’d be surprised what people eat whilst reading library books!), and I barely arch the spines in order to view the words on the page! Not only for hardbacks but the paperbacks — my ChocLit novels & my William Morrow P.S. Edition paperbacks are a good cases in point; they do not show any evidence I read them in this way because I treasure keeping books in a condition that honours their texts. Even when I purchase second-hand novels and non-fiction books I’m always trying to keep the stability of the book in its current condition.

This is wretching experience for a book lover whose own heart was bleeding with the characters and wanted to know all of their thoughts without skipping over pages stuck together without any hope of being undone. And, sadly I haven’t had the pleasure of taking book binding lessons and book recovery classes to know how to fix this if there were a plausible and affordable way to undo the damage. My reading slowed down considerably as I had to peel each page as best as I could to read the rest of the novel. I will omit mentioning how long it took for me to free the pages in order to read them. The top of Chapter 22 really suffered: it looked like someone took a bite out of the page!

Inspired to Read:

I had an impression of an idea what I would find within the pages of Vintage, as I devoured A Vintage Affair by Isobel Wolff via my local library a few years prior to when I first learnt about this new release by Susan Gloss. I fancy stories which are centered around the history and enriched life of clothes and the personal items that occupy our hours alongside the time in which we walk our path on Earth. I oft wondered about the secret histories of second-hand copies of novels could speak inside of a whisper of my ear and the same can be said for vintage clothing boutiques who re-sell clothes previously worn yet gently returned back into the wild for someone else to find them. There is such a hearty treasure to seeking clothes from previous generations, and I for one, am a happy hearted vintage clothes shopper! Mind you, I haven’t gone into the true posh boutiques yet, but the re-sell shoppes for everyday living are quite splendid!

I love the textural experience of wandering from row to row and hanger to hanger, sorting through the ingredients of the clothes (in my particular case, avoiding most synthetics), and noting the styles I am finding being offered. I love the fact that you can pull shirts, skirts, dresses, and bottoms straight-off the rack and know for a start your not about to see anyone soon wear the same ensemble. We’ve become a bit cookie-cutter in our society, and although I cannot fathom why everyone wants to dress like everyone else, I’ve always celebrated individual style and a personal awareness of what types of clothes and articles of fashion make me wicked happy to have them alight in my closet!

I love pulling from different styles of thought, mixing in my own take on an old trend and/or re-inventing a style that is uniquely my own by fusing pieces that might not seem alike but smashingly look brilliant in combination! I love a comfortable fit, I avoid high heels like the plague (they are seriously not a method of wellness for foot), and I like finding a nodding towards the past by finding pieces that match an eloquence of femininity that is nearly all but lost in today’s world of fashion. I’m vintage but I’m alternatively creative in my choices, I love Bohemian for instance, but I like to add a bit of funk to my colour palette and the alternative styles that might be on the fringes of punk. I love cargo pants but I like a nice comfortable pair of washed denim jeans. The accessories are always a happy delight as generally speaking in any second-hand clothing shoppe or boutique, your bound to find estate sale keepers alongside costume jewelry sparklers! The true mirth of joy is being able to go shoppe to shoppe and find pieces of your spirit drifting in through the clothes which speak to you to wear!

I am not sure why I never came round to borrowing Vintage from my local library, but because I hadn’t, it allowed me to be on the blog tour!

Quite simply, how could I not love a novel entitled Vintage?

When it pertains to clothes and a vintage sensibility of style?!

And. shh! One of my secret places to observe wicked alternative fashion is ETSY!

Rock on, dear hearts! Be uniquely defined by what enlivens your own spirit!

Vintage
by Susan Gloss
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

A small-town girl with a flair for fashion, Violet Turner had always dreamed of owning a shop like Hourglass Vintage. But when faced with the possibility of losing the store to an unscrupulous developer, she realizes that despite her usual self-reliance she cannot save it all by herself.

Eighteen-year-old April Morgan is nearly five months along in an unplanned pregnancy when her hasty engagement is broken. When she returns the perfect vintage wedding dress to Violet’s shop, she forges an unexpected bond with women who won’t let her give up on her dreams.

Betrayed by her husband, Amithi Singh begins selling off her vibrant Indian silk dresses. After decades of housekeeping and parenting a daughter who rejects her traditional ways, she fears her best days are behind her . . . until she discovers an outlet for her creativity with a needle and thread.

Vintage is a charming tale of possibility, of finding renewal, love, and hope when we least expect it.

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Women's Fiction

Places to find the book:

Published by William Morrow

on 25th March, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 320

Read an Excerpt of the Novel:

Excerpt from Vintage by Susan Gloss by WilliamMorrowBooks

View this document on Scribd

Author Biography:

Susan Gloss is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin Law School. When she’s not writing fiction, Susan can be found working as an attorney, blogging at GlossingOverIt, or hunting for vintage treasures for her Etsy shop, Cleverly Curated. She lives with her family in Madison, Wisconsin.

A Triptych of Insight:

Violet, April, and Amithi (along with Betsy who plays a supporting role as much as Lane) are the key characters in Vintage, who nestle into your heart as you read their stories unfold. What I found so striking about this particular story is the differences in their ages and the differences of where they are in their lives. April is just starting out on her own path as she’s a teenager on the fringes of college and motherhood, whereas Violet has lived quite a life of woe intermixed with the happier moments she carved out for herself in the world of business. Amithi is the classic housewife whose illusions of a happy marriage are shattered and irrevocably set her course on a new line of sight. They provide a triptych of insight into how life shapes us each day that we breathe and accept to take in the new experiences that cross our path. Whether or not we react well or unkind to how our lives change, it is our own attitude of how we approach life that can determine how much we can enjoy and how much we can appreciate the journey.

Gloss shifts backwards and forwards through the story alighting on chapters which highlight the specific observations and emotions of each of the three women as you soak into Vintage. This unique point-of-view lends itself a unique lens to get into the heart of the novel, which I had originally fell in love with whilst reading Rosamunde Pilcher’s The Shell Seekers as a teenager.

My Review of Vintage:

The name of the vintage shoppe inside the novel Vintage is Hourglass Vintage, a beckoning title of alluring to how time may be of the essence or a direct factor to off-set the harmony of the characters inside its pages. I like how writers choose names to give their readers a curiosity about what they will find as they read along and discover more of where the narrative is about to take them. Half the time I worry I might read a bit too much into the selections of names, but oft-times I find myself realising writers have a heap in common with songwriters; each etch into their creative works a tell; a signal left behind for someone to recognise and knowing feel museful.

Violet is the proprietor who happily loves to lead an unconventional life despite the fact she has very traditional (and quite conventional) aspirations she wants to fulfill. I never understood how some women feel that if you wanted to be a Mum your life automatically becomes traditional: white picket fence, two story house, traditional job, and your children play soccer whilst you drive a mini-van. There are a lot of stereotypes and stigmas that I think cloud over the quite curiously wicked alternative, non-traditional, and unconventional families who thrive in the creative arts and/or create their own independence by pursuing a career that matches their passion. There are so many different roads to travel down, I am never certain why we all feel pigeon holed into one or two. Even motherhood is not hinged to marriage, as so many women tend to believe as well.

April is at a crossroads in her life as she is attempting to sort out how to attend college whilst facing the reality of being withchild; cast alone in the world since her Mum died her sole support system is anchored by a scholarship which is run by people who genuinely care and want to help her. She’s at that unique spot in life where you have to make grown-up choices and realise somewhere inside you there is a well of strength you never knew you had. I like how she has a strong head on her shoulders, embracing a bit of no nonsense carefree attitude when her hormones are not affecting her emotional sensibility and a rock of determination that defies her circumstances. She’s a bit caught in-between childhood and adulthood, stepping as brave as she can into where the future has led her but unsure of how she’s going to get to where she wants to be.

Amithi is in transition of realising her daughter has no interest in maintaining family traditions nor in keeping close ties to her extended family in India. Amithi did not have the same freedom of choice for her marriage or her life when she was the same age of her daughter, and it is how she is shifting through this transitional period of her life that endeared me to her as a character. She was raised in a traditional Indian home and had hoped part of her heritage and culture would have affected her daughter, yet each time she thought she made a bit of progress the daughter would rebel and walk a different path away from her parent’s background.

The beauty of reading Vintage is the allure of second chances and second beginnings when life at first doesn’t seem to take you down the path you’ve been wanting to walk. All three women have a unique path in life they are walking as we meet them in the story and all of their lifepaths are starting to collide into each other as well. They are three extraordinarily different women, but at the heart of who they are they are incredibly alike. The story takes on a time slip arc as each new kernel of insight into each of the women’s past is revealed; we go from the present into a slip of the past as a flirting glimpse into how each of them was moulded into who they are now.

On the writing style of Susan Gloss and why I love her approach to this novel:

Outside of my flexing of a disparaging opinion on language in the ‘fly in the ointment’, my readers I believe know by now that on occasion I can overlook these blemishes and blights to see the story outside of the wrinkling of my nose. I cannot always overlook language, especially if it is threaded into each or every other paragraph, but if its sprinkled in such a way as to remind me of flies on a picnic; I become invested in the story itself. What I appreciated the most about Gloss’s style to tell the story is her infusion of using the time slip arc, to allow us the added benefit of seeing Violet, April, and Amithi as a younger version of themselves — writ right in line with the present day goings-on. It is a unique vehicle to carry-on the unknown elements of each of their past, whilst giving the reader the breadth of what makes them who they are in the present. I love time slips as much as I love life shift narrative arcs (and I believe this qualifies in triplicate) or time travel sequences. They give added dimension outside the general scope of where a story fits inside its sub-genre and happily allows us to soak in information in a way that feels as though we are conversing with the characters ourselves.

Fly in the Ointment:

Recently whilst I was reading Someone Else’s Love Story and I Shall Be Near to You, I had mentioned how finding such brass language inside novels being released was growing tiresome. I must contend, my disdain hasn’t altered now that I’ve picked up Vintage, as I am seriously starting to wonder how to advocate for word usage changes and how to get back into the heart of how to write a novel without dropping words which singe ears and wrinkle brows. I read a lot of heart-warming fiction, including the YA novel The Strength of Ballerinas yesterday which begs to reason most novels can hold their salt without abrasive words flittering into the pages at the most inconvenient times. I am starting to wonder if I am amongst the few who uses her words to express her emotions and her thoughts in a way in which does not yield to the gutter.

And, why is strong language used in such a strong way in the start of a novel if only to disappear to a near blink of omission lateron? Why include it at all if the pace and style fit so well without it being added? I am always so puzzled by how language and vulgar words are being used in novels. It is nearly as if you’d have to remind yourself this novel *had!* abrasive words in it as after awhile they are simply ‘gone’. At least until they unexpectedly re-arrive back into the plot during an argument. Sighs.

I’ve said my peace but I wish I had a slice of apple pie. This novel is a comforting Southern slice of bravery in the midst of life being upturnt unexpectedly, yet it takes place in the North; strangely for me the location never felt like Madison, Wisconsin (I ought to know I’ve been there) but rather somewhere down South, like Charleston or Greenville South Carolina. A place where the beauty of embracing a vintage lifestyle and the clothing boutiques like Hourglass Vintage would be happily inter-spaced in-between the more modern shoppes of fashion. I simply didn’t get the vibe this was a completely Mid-Western story nor did I feel it ‘fit’ Madison. Even though I realise the author lives there, when I visited the city I walked away with an entirely different point-of-view.

Before anyone asks me:

The reason I didn’t seek this novel out at my local library is because ever since Thursday night and the wee hours of Friday morning my neighbour has been in the hospital – at first under pre-caution for pneumonia (in the ER), then downgraded to bronchitis (after admitted), and then, today due to complications of the antibiotics and treatments she is being held over a week before being moved into a nursing home / rehab center. I’ve been completely distracted by going back and forth to the hospital and attempting to keep up with my reading & blog schedules. She’s more like an Aunt than a neighbour, so I honestly didn’t even think of seeking a different copy to read for the review, as my focus has been on her and my family, as there are other things going on personally at the same time which have distracted me as well. (I briefly mentioned a bit of this on my post about Early Decision) To be honest, it didn’t even dawn on me until about an hour ago the hours I lost today due to a terrible lightning storm (in which I visited my neighbour as I knew going on the computer was out of the question to write this review) and the time it took to pull the pages apart — as my eyes drew to the clock worried I’d be late in posting that a library copy would have saved me a bit of grief. Of course, my library is not the one that is open 10 minutes before 9pm! These are the moments you make lemonade out of lemons and carry-on.

Despite the faulty copy I received, I was overjoyed it was a hardback edition, as I was only expecting a paperback copy. I’m still joyful I have a hardback copy of Susan Gloss’s debut novel — I loved watching her and the other Debs at the blog take their turns in the bookish spotlights during the year, and it was an honour to host my ‘second’ Deb as I hosted Ms. Heather Webb (for Becoming Josephine) in January. I am enthused I have a whole new year of Debs to get to know and greet into the literary fold! My copy of Vintage is worn in and loved all the same — just like the beautiful clothes featured in the novel itself.

This blog tour stop was courtesy of TLC Book Tours:

click-through to follow the blogosphere tour:

See what I am hosting next:

I positively *love!* comments in the threads below each of my posts, and I have happily made sure that I could reacquire the WP Comments where you can leave me a comment by using: WP (WordPress), Twitter, Facebook, Google+, & Email! Kindly know that I appreciate each thought you want to share with me and all the posts on my blog are open to new comments & commentary! Short or long, I appreciate the time you spent to leave behind a note of your visit! Return again soon!

{SOURCES: Cover art of “Vintage”, author photograph, book synopsis and the tour badge were all provided by TLC Book Tours and used with permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Buy links on Scribd excerpt are not affiliated with Jorie Loves A Story. Book Excerpt was able to be embedded due to codes provided by Scribd.}

The ‘live reading’ tweets I shared as I read & reviewed “Vintage”:

{ favourite & Re-tweet if inspired to share }

#amreading Susan Gloss’s #debutnovel #VINTAGE whilst #blogging my reactions as I turn the pages! :) My #review is later today! #fashion :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 22, 2014

I am so loving how lightning storms are interfering with my #bookblogger joy of reviewing #novels this Summer! Bring on Autumn w/o rain! :)
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 22, 2014

Love how #VINTAGE (the #novel) has this alluring Southern charm about it; it feels so much more like #SouthernLit than a Wisconsinite locale

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 22, 2014

Okay That was seriously #beyondyum & a lovely #randomjoy of a food surprise! :) Pasta & ground meat w/spinach & a sinful slice of cheesecake
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 22, 2014

.@TLCBookTours I just finished #amreading VINTAGE by Susan Gloss — oh my! I positively *loved!* how this story ends http://t.co/0kGHe4UfWK!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 23, 2014

I just recommended Vintage: A Novel on @riffle. Check it out. http://t.co/xvlrK1rqbA
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 23, 2014

.@susangloss Despite the hurdles I faced #reading #VINTAGE, I felt deeply attached to Violet, April, & Amithi! Powerful #newbook of #fiction

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 23, 2014

.@msheatherwebb so thankful I could host *two!* Debs (@DebutanteBall) in one year! My #review of VINTAGE http://t.co/0kGHe4UfWK @susangloss
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 23, 2014

.@WmMorrowBks Not even a damaged #book could stop me from #amreading #VINTAGE by Susan Gloss (@susangloss) http://t.co/0kGHe4UfWK #fiction

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 23, 2014

Posted Monday, 22 September, 2014 by jorielov in 21st Century, Adulterous Affair, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Breast Cancer, Cancer Scare, Coming-Of Age, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Disillusionment in Marriage, Equality In Literature, Fashion Fiction, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Fly in the Ointment, Library Find, Life Shift, Literature of India, Old World Arts & Crafts, Realistic Fiction, Scribd, Second Chance Love, Sewing & Stitchery, Singletons & Commitment, Time Slip, TLC Book Tours, Unexpected Inheritance, Unexpected Pregnancy, Vintage Clothes & Boutiques, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Right to Choose (Health Care Rights)

+Blog Book Tour+ The Strength of Ballerinas by Nancy Lorenz

Posted Sunday, 21 September, 2014 by jorielov Cedar Fort Inc, Nancy Lorenz, Sweetwater Books, The Strength of Ballerinas 3 Comments

The Strength of Ballerinas by Nancy Lorenz

Published By: Sweetwater Books (@SweetwaterBooks),
an imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc (@CedarFortBooks)
Official Author Websites: Site | @NancyLorenzbks | Facebook

Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #TheStrengthofBallerinas OR #NancyLorenz

On the footheels of the sequel: #StrengthOfBallerinas (to imply a series)

Acquired Book By:

I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Cedar Fort whereupon I am thankful to have such a diverse amount of novels and non-fiction titles to choose amongst to host. I received a complimentary copy of “The Strength of Ballerinas” direct from the publisher Sweetwater Books (imprint of Cedar Fort, Inc) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read:

One area of motion pictures I have always been drawn into is the world of dance, as there is something quite magical about how emotion and fluidity of movement can merge into one. Creatively dance evokes such a strong passion of observation and a compelling experience for the audience who watch the dancers moving through their time on the floor. I appreciate nearly all of the different forms of dance, including urban dance crews such as the ones on ABDC (America’s Best Dance Crew) which had aired on MTV, and of which I no longer believe is hosted. The films which always spoke to me the most in different ways are the following: Dirty Dancing (with Jennifer Grey & Patrick Swayze), Save the Last Dance (with Julia Stiles), the Step Up franchise of films (each one unique in of itself), Footloose (original & remake), Flashdance, Singin’ in the Rain, every Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers film, most of the classic films of dance and/or musical variety (including works featuring: Danny Kay, Gene Kelly & others; The Ziegfeldd Follies), Chicago, Mary Poppins, Hairspray, Shall We Dance? (with Richard Gere), Greese, Burlesque (with Christina Aquilera), Honey (with Jessica Alba), Moulin Rouge, The Nanny Express (with Brennan Elliott) and of course I grew up on the tv series Fame. The films which speak directly to ballet and the world of those who dare to push the limits of their bodies are: Centerstage (my favourite favourite!), Ballet Shoes (with Emma Watson), and First Position (documentary). The ones I want to see are Billy Elliott, An American Girl: Isabelle Dances into the Spotlight, & Mao’s Last Dancer. I positively adored seeing a regional ensemble for The Nutcracker in Baltimore as well.

First Position Official Trailer via First Position films

My own foray into the world of dance ended in my early childhood as I was very self-aware and knew which steps interested me in the room across from my own lessons. Unfortunately for me, they did not give freedom of choice to children under the age of 6. As an adult, I have wanted to re-take up the interest I have in dance and start to seek out lessons for ballroom dance as I love the agility and the grace of the sequences. I do not aim to compete, but rather to find a harmony of the steps whilst dancing against the music. I do have a sideline notion of taking up tap dancing, as I learnt for dyslexic learners tap can actually help us fuse the steps into our muscle memory. It also gives a better grounding for dance overall if you learn differently and of course, by wearing two different coloured shoes I’ll be able to ‘catch’ on a bit faster! I cannot wait to try!

I am simply drawn into stories of dance and the dancers who give us the light of their innermost joy. I was inspired to read this novel originally as it felt as though it would become a most beloved story of strength and the humbling grace of living on faith. I was only a bit worried about what the debilitating illness might be but thankfully my fears were put aside as I asked the tour director only one question: does the story involve cancer? And, the answer was no. I couldn’t wait to dive into this story as soon as I heard that and signed up for the tour! Trust me when I say that this is a story any sensitive heart can handle!

A note on the cover art design:

I was especially endeared to the choice of the cover art for this novel as it is a reflection of who Kendra is and the image of who Kendra has as a reflection of herself. There is a lot of metaphor in the novel, pointing to direct young adults and all readers who pick up the novel to reconsider how they view themselves as much as learning from Kendra’s lead. It is a clever book cover in what it is focusing on and how that focus translates into who Kendra is as a person.

The Strength of Ballerinas

All Kendra has ever wanted to do is dance. But when her father's job takes their family from the city lights of Manhattan to quiet Napa Valley in California, Kendra's dreams are shattered.

Still determined to dance, she tries to adjust to her new life until a debilitating diagnosis threatens to change everything. Now Kendra must decide which dreams are really worth fighting for.

Step onto the dance floor and into Kendra's heart in this poignant and compelling story. Written by ballet lover Nancy Lorenz, this is a debut novel you won't want to put down.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

on 9th of September, 2014

Pages: 256

Author Biography:

Nancy Lorenz currently teaches as an English adjunct at several colleges. She worked in publishing, public relations and in network television. She studied ballet in New York City at numerous studios, including open level classes at American Ballet Theater in the 1980’s, and continues to study ballet for the sheer love of it. She recommends that you love what you do, but also to branch out to the many subjects out there yet to discover. The more you learn, the more you can bring back into your art.

A story about family & our desire to find our niche in the world:

I always appreciate fiction that drives into the heart of who we are as individuals and the discover of our own personal niche inside the world itself. The Strength of Ballerinas at it’s core is about a teenage ballerina in tutelage at the Manhattan Dance Company who unexpectedly is pulled from her rigorous training and transplanted into the vineyards of Napa Valley due to a job transfer of her father’s. All the whilst attempting to sort through regular teenage angst and anguish of understanding your person, your internal world of thought, body image & self worth issues, and the navigation of the world within the structure of school. School is always a rapid-fire crazy chaos of sorting out how to fit in or rather blend in without drawing attention to yourself if your own self-confidence is faltering due to an internal battle of frustration with your circumstances. In this light, Lorenz paints Kendra’s world brilliantly, as she shows how difficult the relocation was from the point-of-view of a ballerina in training and how life can throw a curve ball you’d rather have dodged completely!

I like the empathsis on Kendra’s family life, on how she lost her Mum at a young age, how her brother has autism, and how her father feels a bit lost in the shuffle of everything that keeps happening to his family. He’s written well on his own behalf, as parents are not always fleshed out in Children’s Literature (across the board from Juvenile, Middle Grade, or Young Adult fiction) nor do they come across as regular parents, but rather caricatures of who they should be. Lorenz takes the parents of the novel and gives them an honest portrayal of caring & nurturing presences inside the lives of the teens. I appreciated seeing Mr. Sutton (Kendra’s Dad) as much as I did Mrs. Cassidy (the widow mother of Becca & Troy), as it sparks a new vein of realism inside this genre of Young Adult.

My Review of The Strength of Ballerinas:

Kendra’s world crashes in the blink of an eye when on the larkspur joy of completing a milestone in her quest to become an apprentice ballerina (she achieved twenty fouettés), her father informs her they are going to embark on a cross-country job transfer. Her young life and world is surrounded by dance – to perfect the grace and the maturity needed to handle the arduous competitive state of ballet. She lives and breathes her art, denying herself any other joy outside of the practice and has no interest in food except enough to satisfy her father’s concern on behalf of her health. What compelled me about the start of The Strength of Ballerinas is how within the opening sequences of the story, Lorenz gives you a breath of a whisper to what is going to be alighting next in successive chapters. A mere hinting of a foreshadow, but enough to compel me forward into the heart of the novel.

Lorenz writes with a passion for the ballet and for an understanding of the internal world of a ballerina. She pulls you into that mindset and allows for the characters to be honest about their feelings and their thoughts as they arise naturally through dialogue. I always find this is especially important when writing stories for YA audiences, as it gives a firm and compelling addition to literature for younger audiences who are thirsty for realism and heart.

As Kendra progresses through the early stages of being the new student at the Napa Valley high school, we start to see her undergo a bit of a metamorphosis in how she views her position in her life. Prior to the relocation from New York City to California, she centered her life around ballet. She never even considered the role she had as a big sister to Petey her younger brother afflicted with autism, nor did she count the difficulties her widowed father might have as well. She was focused intently on her dream to be a prima ballerina but what she was missing was the grounding roots of a well-balanced and well-lived life. By exchanging one Coast for the other, we start to see her emerge out of her shell a bit, reconsidering a few things she had always ignored (especially the warning signs of her muscles), and even ventured to appreciate food for something more than sustenance. I appreciated this character growth occurring in the novel, as if there is a teen who is career driven themselves, they might start to see that you can have a rounded world full of experiences without limiting your scope to what you want to do professionally.

Seeing Kendra’s happiness at the pumpkin patch of the Cassidy’s was one of my favourite scenes, as she had pure joy inside her heart and she carried this into being a big sister to Petey of whom she tried to share the happiness with as well. I felt it was a turning point in her outlook and of her growth towards being a bit more than she was when she was in New York.

The interesting part of the novel is how Kendra believed as strongly in her brother’s abilities as their mother yet she would find that her father could only believe what he sees. Coincidently, he is also the father who disbelieves what he sees when his son starts to show signs he’s participating rather than not understanding anything at all. I think this was a good show of how hard it is for parents to trust in something that they do not fully understand but hope will have a positive outcome. I can imagine how frustrating it is for the parents of autistic children to find joy inside everyday hours, when attempting to simply make a small connection to a child who does not know how to communicate. I have often run across autistic children whilst I am out at malls or stores, and I always remember to have a bit more patience, as I never know if something I say or if I move too quickly will affect their child. This was especially the case when I was riding in an elevator with an autistic child at a department store. I thought closer about my words and my tone, and I didn’t make any sudden movements – not that I do normally, but I was mindful the child might misread anything outside their own family and environment. The mother thanked me and we talked a bit before she had to go on with her day. I smiled and said a prayer of gratitude for remembering what I had read and heard in documentaries. The memory triggered to mind as I read this story, however, as how one parent differs from another; and how all parents have their breaking moments of feeling exasperated. I can only hope if others were to come across a child whose responses clued them into the fact they had special needs, they’d take a few extra steps to make them feel comfortable as I had and give their Mum or Dad a breathing space. As I think that is what Kendra’s Dad needed — he needed breathing space.

I simply soaked straight into this novel and was absent from noticing the erasure of the hours off the clock! I simply found myself unable to put the book down, much less draw a pause to blog my thoughts about it! What was so very compelling about The Strength of Ballerinas is how universal the message is of the story: to not only believe in your own unique talent but to treasure the experiences and choices you have to create a future you were always meant to walk. It is powerful and empowering at the very same time – to live for a short spell inside Kendra’s shoes and watch as she grows inside this beautiful coming-of age story of strength, spiritual fortitude, and a conviction of personal will to overcome what comes along in our lives that scare us as much as they define our character.

Nancy Lorenz is a writer in YA I want to keep my eye on:

Lorenz has such a beautiful gift for writing compelling teenage drama and realistic life circumstances, that I know she is most definitely a writer in YA I want to keep my eye on! I cannot wait to see where she takes us next, and the fact she was so convicting in a novel of dance, I’d be keen to see more exploits of the creative arts; if not dance! She truly knows how to get into the heart of her characters and I appreciate this the most, as they are uniquely different and approachable. She keeps a clear eye on the economic front of America as well, and she ties-in realistic examples of modern American life as well. She’s not cliche and she honours the characters by giving them full flexibility and a rite of passage that befits who they are as well. I am most definitely going to be keeping my eyes on the look-out for her next releases through Sweetwater Books!

One of the most beautiful things is how she found a way to transition the terminology of the dance into a tangible visual representation of the ballet without having hiccups in the translation. I felt caught up in the delight of reading this novel, because the author’s vision for the storm guided my heart and my imagination towards her impression of where she wanted us to go as reader’s. It is a special gift to translate visually what you write through words, and her expressions and palette of choice in descriptions matched how I felt this story would be represented in life.

The Strength of Ballerinas Book Trailer via The Strength of Ballerinas

This Blog Tour Stop is courtesy of Cedar Fort, Inc:

Virtual Road Map of “The Strength of Ballerinas” Blog Tour can be found here:

This is my second Young Adult book review outside of Speculative Fiction and the second for Equality in Literature. Wonder was the first one I blogged about where a brother is different from his sister and the story is rooted in family & coming-of age.

Click-through to mark your calendars for:

I positively *love!* comments in the threads below each of my posts, and I have happily made sure that I could reacquire the WP Comments where you can leave me a comment by using: WP (WordPress), Twitter, Facebook, Google+, & Email! Kindly know that I appreciate each thought you want to share with me and all the posts on my blog are open to new comments & commentary! Short or long, I appreciate the time you spent to leave behind a note of your visit! Return again soon!

{SOURCES: Author photograph and the Book Cover of “The Strength of Ballerinas” were provided by the author Nancy Lorenz and used with permission. The Cedar Fort badge, the Book Synopsis, and the Author Biography were provided by Cedar Fort, Inc. and used by permission. Blog Tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. Post dividers badge by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Bookish Events badge created by Jorie in Canva. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Book Trailer for The Strength of Ballerinas via the novel’s YouTube Channel & the trailer for First Position by First Position Films had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed these media portals to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it.}

The ‘live reading’ tweets I shared as I read & reviewed “The Strength of Ballerinas”:

{ favourite & Re-tweet if inspired to share }

#amreading The Strength of Ballerinas by Nancy Lorenz which will be the next #bookreview on my #bookblog! :) I <3 @SweetwaterBooks releases!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 21, 2014

#amreading The Strength of Ballerinas whilst getting caught up in the life of #ballet; I have always appreciated films on this & now a #YA!
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 21, 2014

#amreading #TheStrengthofBallerinas with such a convicting narrative about #ballet, #dance, & the life of #YoungAdult‘s I cannot put it down

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 21, 2014

Updates about this becoming a series:

@JLovesAStory Yes, I’m finishing up the sequel to “The Strength of Ballerinas” with editing, etc. I’m excited about continuing the story!
— Nancy Lorenz (@NancyLorenzbks) May 28, 2015

@JLovesAStory I am sioooo glad! ! I love these characters and love that u love them too! #ballet #YA @jlovesAStory

— Nancy Lorenz (@NancyLorenzbks) May 29, 2015

.@KNRwrites Thx for your interest in @NancyLorenzbks‘s #StrengthOfBallerinas series! :) Here’s my #bookreview on No1 http://t.co/F038jEVIRl
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) May 29, 2015

*This last tweet was RT at least 5x!

Posted Sunday, 21 September, 2014 by jorielov in 21st Century, A Father's Heart, Autism, Ballet, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Trailer, Bookish Films, Brothers and Sisters, California, Cedar Fort Publishing & Media, Children's Literature, Coming-Of Age, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Debilitating Diagnosis & Illness, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Diet Weight & Body Image, Disabilities & Medical Afflictions, Documentary on Topic or Subject, Equality In Literature, Father-Daughter Relationships, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Geographically Specific, Indie Author, Life Shift, Modern Day, Musical Fiction | Non-Fiction, Napa Valley, New York City, Prejudicial Bullying & Non-Tolerance, Questioning Faith as a Teen, Realistic Fiction, School Life & Situations, Siblings, Small Towne Fiction, Special Needs Children, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Transfer Student at School, Urban Life, Vintages and Vineyards, Women's Health, Young Adult Fiction

A random joy of engaging with debut novelist Lacy Crawford who wrote “Early Decision” a novel on the harrowing experiences of attempting to gain entrance into University!

Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov Early Decision, HarperCollins Publishers, Lacy Crawford, P.S. Edition, William Morrow 0 Comments

“Stories of Jorie” will simply be what it sounds like being ~ stories of my own joy as it arrives inside my life! I’ll be sharing more about my interests and hobbies outside the bookish realms, as much as staying true to my bookish roots on Jorie Loves A Story. I’ll be sharing t he background of why I choose to curate my lists on Riffle as much as spread the joy of what makes me smile inside my ordinary hours. I simply needed the first twelve months to focus on blogging about books, getting my feet wet as a blogger, and finding my way through blog tours as much as sorting out that curious ‘thing’ called the “Twitterverse”. This is a dawn of a new day, this is Jorie, the girl who is affectionately addicted to sharing her love of stories and the joy of curating her own stories each day that she lives.

I honestly logged onto Twitter to have a bit of ‘downtime’ as my Thursday didn’t actually end until 4am Friday morning, as I was awaiting news about my neighbour who had been taken to the ER earlier in the evening around 8:30pm. She’s in her late 80s, and I was growing concerned as the hours ticked off the clock that perhaps it would be a bit more serious than a virus; thankfully she was diagnosed with early on-set pneumonia. She’s recovering on antibiotics whilst I am trying to shift my day forward as are my parents, as we’ve been involved since she was taken to the hospital. Therefore, I was thinking of finishing the drafts I had began for two Top Ten Tuesdays (last weeks & this weeks) as I was delayed in posting both due to health reasons. I thought I should flesh out my *first!* 10 Bookish & Not So Bookish post of which has grown into a rambling journal of events from June, July, & now September! I’ve tried to participate thrice over since I first decided to participate *weekly!*, yet Summer has not yielded a lot of completion on the original ideas I had to share during the weekly meme!

I like to hop on Twitter because I know Fridays is a nice afternoon space for the bookish soul who wants to catch-up on the literary news floating through the twitterverse; not to mention I am always half a step behind the Publishers’ who are happily tweeting through the week on upcoming novels & other lovelies that might perk an interest. I also wanted to work on my new home for #ChocLitSaturdays which is @ChocLitSaturday, but I never actually broached further than *catching!* up with my own Notifications and tweeting out notes of gratitude to William Morrow about my last tour stop Someone Else’s Love Story. I wanted to double-check I was following HarperCollins directly as I have come to learn recently I read quite a heap of titles by their imprint William Morrow as well as titles threaded through HarperCollins in one way or another. (courtesy of a new indexing feature I am archiving on my blog!) I have a lot of Publishers I follow on my List for: Press & Publishers [Major Trade, Indie Press, Editors, & the Publishing Life!] but as I walk through my reading adventures year to year as a book blogger, I am purposely holding off following all of them directly as I am trying to sort out which publishers turn my eye the most per annum.

This is how I stumbled across an event on @HarperCollins called a ‘#twittertakeover‘ where the author of the hour being featured was Ms. Lacy Crawford! I hadn’t stumbled across her novel previously nor did I honestly know what the topic of the moment was going to involve, so I did what I always do when I spontaneously stumble across a tweetchat on Twitter: I dived right in! :)

I am getting a bit ahead of myself,… these are the tweets I tweeted off to William Morrow (before realising they should have been re-routed to @Morrow_PB!):

Although I tweeted about my joy of this P.S. Edition, I am now questioning if I had tweeted out my love of the original joy I had whilst reading The Ghost Bride whereupon I made my joy known for the first time!

@JoshilynJackson I couldn’t help include a notation about the P.S. Edition by @WmMorrowBks inside my review; your story’s playlist ROCKS! :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

.@JoshilynJackson wrote an incredible heart centered #novel w/characters who walked off the page w/arresting clarity http://t.co/TSKjIk5Jxz
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@WmMorrowBks Thanks so much for including the #bookmark of @Espngreeny‘s novel of which I gave a s/o on this #review http://t.co/TSKjIk5Jxz!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@WmMorrowBks I am seriously enamored with your P.S. Edition #novels, to the brink I added it to my category cloud to help my readers find it
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

Shortly thereafter, I roamed around a bit between my Home feeds & my Inbox, where I happily discovered there are two Miss Marple’s arriving *this!* Sunday on PBS! Sadly, one of them is going to interfere with the season finale of the Guy vs. Rachael competition, of which I only remembered *after!* I tweeted PBS! Oy vie. At this point, I caught sight of the HarperCollins TwitterTakeover event tweets, but I had misunderstood the hour in which it was going to happen as I thought I had arrived too late to join in! Wickedly I was bang-on brilliant at my timing today, and thus, this is where I joined the joyful exchanges:

I love the books I recommend so much that it seems self-evident to me that they should be bought, savored, cherished. But how to convince?

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins best way to convey your passion for a novel; simply to speak of what drew your eye into the story & why it was unputdownable!
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Stories are an interesting creature because they alight inside our hearts & minds in different ways; we read emphatically :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@JLovesAStory I did. One nice man backed away, very slowly. Waved. Gave me a wan smile. Fled to bakery across the street.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Wow, really!? Hmm, that’s a bit of an odd reaction?! I generally find #bookish people more open to random convos w/ likeminds

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@JLovesAStory Booksellers manage to find common words for these experiences, to communicate them kindly, with energy.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Curious, was this a large metro area!? find the larger the metro the harder you have to find the right spot to share #bookjoy

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@JLovesAStory Nope. But a Saturday afternoon. Lots of browsers.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Hmm, that is quirky then! :) I am so bubbly I guess I just move from one person to the next & wait until I see a like mind :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Readers can be fickle though; will admit that. I like talking to #writers of #genres do not even regularly read; fascinating
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

Also, after publishing, I feel even more grateful to writers I already love. I have a tiny sense of what it was like for them. I imagine.

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins I believe this to be true; we can only perceive a small slice of what being in the public eye & a reader’s eye is like prior
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@literaryetc I love meeting bloggers. I wish they’d say so!

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

There is an undeniably sweet pleasure to writing before publication, when it’s just you and your dreams.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins All yes! The nexus of anonymity & the joy of living inside your imagination w/ your stories; yet they do need wings to fly :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

I’m tweeting from SoCal. It is the polar opposite of HarperCollins’ new offices. At the edge of a canyon, with hawks surfing the ridge.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Hawks are one of the most graceful and cunningly intelligent of the birds of prey; beautiful place to be tweeting today! :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

My book’s main character is not me (I). But many people think she is. They think they know, for example, some pretty sordid stuff about me.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

This can be awkward on the playground, when they meet my husband and say, Oh, is that the guy she meets at the end? He’s used to this.

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins That’s a bit like saying every actor in a tv series & motion picture is the *exact!* composite of their onscreen character :(
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

Also the axis of New York / not New York is fascinating. A book will be huge in Brooklyn and in SoCal they say… Huh?

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

Similarly all of LA can be mad for a story and the east coast hasn’t yet read that tweet.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins The dichotomy of difference between the Coasts is why most of us have friends who live on the opposite side of each other :)

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins A bit like how Americans *love!* BBC & Britons cannot get enough of American telly!? We’re like cows eating grass thru fences
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins (on the cow analogy) Humans are just as curious as they are about what is ‘on the other side’; always thirsty for knowledge

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

The single best thing to say to an author: “I loved your book and I can’t wait for the next one.”
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins I have been doing this a LOT during my 1st year as a #bookblogger; I cannot wait for all the lovely #newreleases forthcoming!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Prior to blogging, used to cheer quietly & celebrate #authors to other #readers & #librarians; now I contact them personally!
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

By the way: when I sold my book, I was not on (had never joined) Twitter or Facebook. I did not blog. Just a little myth-busting.

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins A prime example of a #writer who can publish w/o social media is #LeilaMeacham! :) Stories are what grabs the #editor & agent
— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

.@stephborkowski Books always sell one at a time, person to person. Social media can help, but the story must live and move between people.

— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

I only have a few minutes left here. THANK YOU, HarperCollins, for the chance to takeover!
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins @lacy_crawford I am positively THRILLED I logged on in time to find this wicked sweet #twittertakeover! Honoured to join in!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

Happy weekend to all the good book people, readers and writers all.
— HarperCollins (@HarperCollins) September 19, 2014

@HarperCollins Happy #bookish weekend to you, too! Do you all do this regularly!? On Fridays, I mean!? I want to mark my calendar! Awesome!

— Jorie Loves A Story (@JLovesAStory) September 19, 2014

As you see, I was happily engaged in this conversation, enjoying where it led, and simply went with the flow of the conversation! I did not even mind if I received a few replies over the score of it, because I was thankful I could participate and there were other tweeters I was happily seeing get their tweets responded too as well! It felt very balanced and fair, and I think Ms. Crawford did a smashing job at engaging with her audience & giving out such an honest impression of where her own thoughts lay on the topics. Previously to this conversation, I have always appreciated the chats I attempt to participate in weekly as time and life get away from me and I cannot always drop-in on my favourites! It is nice seeing publishers hosting open forums as well as independent literary sources and readers!

I love googling for book excerpts whilst I am participating on blog tours and/or reading books outside of a tour — it helps me provide extra bits of information on the text I am reading, but one smidge of a secret is that I routinely browse SoundCloud & Scribd for my own edification for other novels which whet an interest for me to read! :) This includes novels and/or non-fiction titles that I might put on hold at my local library [as I borrow quite a heap each year] or suggest a Purchase REQ if its under the six month bar of availability to ILL (inter-library loan). Inveribly, I like finding either an audio and/or print excerpt to gain a bit more insight into the novel and/or non-fiction topic I keenly want to soak inside. To be honest, I am always cognisant of what I mention on my Review Policy as flags I’ll mark off inside my notations for Fly in the Ointment; I’m always trying to sidestep this from happening, but for the most part, we’re always a bit blind when we select books to read. We can do our due diligence ahead of time, but we still might end up with a wrinkling of our brow; at least it is true for me!

Inspired to Share: I came across a radio Interview between Ms. Crawford and an Sirius XM radio host (personal note: I used to ADORE listening to all the lovely channels on XM radio!) whereupon a bit more of an insight glimpse into the backstory of how the novel was written and how she was inspired to write it whilst maintaining a bit of distance between the real-life composites who inspired the story to be told. I appreciated finding out more about the novel, but also more about the entire ‘story!’ of how to enter University from an Admissions Counselor. As disclosed on My Bookish Life, I’m a self-educated / library-educated girl who opted out of University, yet that doesn’t mean I haven’t amassed my own filing cabinet of knowledge of the chaos that is involved in being accepted. I simply haven’t sorted out if I should turn half of it into fiction or use the know-how to help my future children navigate if they want to attend and/or opt-out like I did. I personally do not mind either way, because truly, there are many paths towards achieving your goals and dreams. We’re not cookie-cutter learners nor are we destined to all take the same path as everyone else.

A quinky dink of a coincidence would be that I tend to gravitate towards stories about college and/or the University years, even though I am removed from the experience. I always like hearing other people’s stories even if they are wrapped inside fictional accountments, because it is through stories we all learn more about ourselves whilst embracing the differences of others. Stories pass on our heritage as much as who were were whilst we lived.

Please follow the link (will not embed?): Lacy Crawford Interview by Smerconish

I proceeded over to Scribd where I found a Book Excerpt (cheers & applause!) before moving over to the author’s website directly! And, I am including her contact information below for easy reference in case this post has encouraged you to seek out this novel as well! I already checked my library’s catalogue and found that is not yet in queue, but I’m going to keep my eyes peeled, that much is for sure! And, am I a lucky duck or what?! It is a *P.S. Edition!*

Read an Excerpt of the Novel:

Excerpt from Early Decision by Lacy Crawnford via WilliamMorrowBooks

View this document on Scribd

Author Connections:

Site | @lacy_crawford | Tumblr

Lacy Crawford – Early Decision via Connie Martinson

Inspired to Share: This is an interview I found shortly after I was editing this post to publish, and felt the post would not be complete without its inclusion. Mostly as it is such an honest example of what high school Juniors & Seniors are going through to prove they can enter upper levels of schooling. I can tell after I read the novel I’ll have to sort out how much I want to comment on and how much I want to share about my own experiences, as part of the disillusionment for me about University was how competitive driven it was to enter yet once your there, most of it was a glorified addition to high school without the benefit of being in a place where free thinkers and individual expression was encouraged. Not that this applies to all colleges and Universities, but I think for the most part, what is missing is the exploration of encouraging ideas which exist outside the box and allowing students to forget their own paths whilst encouraging their curiosity for knowledge. I’ve talked a bit about this previously, which is most likely why I have my eye on books on education as I know in the near future I’ll start to adopt and become a Mum myself. The quest to find balance and a better path for education will now lay on my shoulders and continue forward from where my own path concluded.

My favourite part of this conversation was when Ms. Martinson spoke about the positive contribution libraries give to all of us and how all of us have the advantage to stay curiously healthy by picking up our holds and diving into new books which will hopefully enlighten our minds as much as our hearts! Rock on, Ms. Martinson! The fundamental roots of how I became self-educated is the fact I’ve had a library card since I was a young wist of a reader!

Comments make me smile! Let’s start a conversation! I appreciate your visit & look forward to your return! I do moderate the comment threads; do not worry if the comment is delayed in being seen! Drop back soon!

Reader Interactive Question:

What wicked sweet bookish event have you ‘stumbled across’ on Twitter which encouraged you look into the author & the book being spoken about so heartedly? What do you enjoy the most about bookish chats on Twitter where you get to engage with readers, bloggers, publishers, literary agents, and authors directly!? Do you regularly attempt to attend as many as you can as I do!?

Ho hey! I broke 19K on Twitter today!

{SOURCES: Stories of Jorie badge created by Jorie in Canva. Interview with Lacy Crawford via Connie Martinson had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it. Tweets embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Buy links on Scribd excerpt are not affiliated with Jorie Loves A Story. Book Excerpt was able to be embedded due to codes provided by Scribd.}

Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov in 21st Century, Book | Novel Extract, College & University Years, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Realistic Fiction, Scribd, Soundcloud

+Blog Book Tour+ Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson

Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov HarperCollins Publishers, Joshilyn Jackson, P.S. Edition, Someone Else's Love Story, William Morrow 2 Comments

Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jcakson

Published By: William Morrow (@WmMorrowBks),
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Original publication date: 19th November, 2013; this is the paperback reprint

Official Author Websites: Site | @joshilynjackson| Facebook
Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, Ebook

Converse via: #SomeoneElsesLoveSory

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Someone Else’s Love Story” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher William Morrow, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

A notation on the Unexpected Extras:

The edition of Someone Else’s Love Story is the special “P.S.” edition of which I happily expressed my enthused response in receiving on behalf of: The Ghost Bride. In this particular case, it drew to light my collection of music is also stored inside of a box at the moment, as I would have happily pulled out my Indigo Girls albums to play in the background once I learnt that Ms. Jackson listened to them whilst creating this novel! (apparently they were excellent for cluing into Shandi) How lovely! Now when she said William’s song was “Gone Gone Gone” by Philip Phillips I nearly couldn’t believe my eyes — it is simply one of my favourite songs by Phillips! And, I’m always especially grateful he performs live on television as I happily have seen him a few times, most recently during the Capitol Fourth celebration on PBS! Further glee for me was reading Walcott is represented aptly through “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers! Seriously!? I can so dig this author! And, I hadn’t even picked up the novel to read yet! Just by saying Paula would be a vocal hybrid of Pink & Regina Spektor (of whom I have seen live in person!) made perfect sense to me — even though I had yet to see her in the story! Laughs.

I am as connected to music as Jackson, and therefore, all these little hints about which musicians and artists would best represent them in song and musical threads of creative voice felt right to me! And, this is what I am saying about the “P.S.” editions by William Morrow, they give you such a hearty insight behind the pen as to allow you to learn a bit more than you were expecting to be able to know!

I listened to each of these ahead of reading the story:

(Shandi) “Hammer And a Nail” by Indigo Girls – http://youtu.be/yTI2GGNFR_U
(William) “Gone, Gone, Gone” by Philip Phillips – http://youtu.be/oozQ4yV__Vw
(Walcott) “Ho Hey” by the Lumineers – http://youtu.be/zvCBSSwgtg4
And, I saved this for after I concluded the story:
“Rise” by Eddie Vedder – http://youtu.be/1QO191imv0s

I am always happily surprised by the enclosures I find within the review books I receive in the Post; this particular one was a finished copy and therefore I am not expecting to find an enclosure unless the publicist includes the Press Sheet for the author and novel. This time I was more than happily surprised to find a *bookmark!*, and yes, you can definitely believe me when I tell you that I get quite giddy finding *bookmarks!* enclosed with books for review! I have quite the lovely collection of bookmarks I’ve collected over the years since I was a young child, however, all of those are stored in a box and not readily easy to pull out. Imagine my surprise joy to find this bookmark is for the novel: All You Could Ask For by Mike Greenburg! A novel I have heard a considerable amount of praise as much as I have been on the fence if I can handle reading it or not. Mostly as I know its going to be an emotional read and learning on this bookmark he’s donating all proceeds of the novel to Breast Cancer Research is incredible! He even set up his own foundation (Heidi’s Angels) in order to re-direct the funds to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

I do state my hesitation to read stories where cancer is front and center on my Review Policy, as I simply have a sensitive heart and I am always being careful about the level of emotional drama I can handle reading. Recently, the novel which truly gutted me emotionally was actually a war drama (I Shall Be Near To You) which was both a surprise and a wake-up call to be a bit more cognisant of the story-lines I’m reading right now. I think my heart is always quite open to stories, but whether or not I’m able to handle their contents is another matter entirely. I always celebrate writers who donate their proceeds to a worthy cause and therefore, I am thankful to William Morrow for enclosing this bookmark and drawing my eye towards the beautiful generosity of this author. Even if I may or may not be able to read the novel, I’ll always know a novel I can give as a gift and perhaps lift someone else’s spirits in the process.

I happily used the bookmark to read Someone Else’s Love Story!

Someone Else's Love Story
by Joshilyn Jackson
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours

For single mom Shandi Pierce, life is a juggling act. She’s finishing college, raising precocious three-year-old Natty, and keeping the peace between her eternally warring, long-divorced parents.Then she gets caught in the middle of a stickup at a gas station and falls instantly in love with William Ashe, when he steps between the armed robber and her son.

Shandi doesn’t know that William’s act wasn’t about bravery. When he looked down the barrel of the robber’s gun he believed it was destiny: it’s been exactly one year since a tragic act of physics shattered his universe. But William doesn’t define destiny the way other people do—to him destiny is about choice.

Now William and Shandi are about to meet their so-called destinies head-on, making choices that will reveal unexpected truths about love, life, and the world they think they know.

Genres: Contemporary (Modern) Fiction (post 1945), Southern Lit, Women's Fiction

Places to find the book:

Published by William Morrow

on 5th August, 2014

Format: Paperback

Pages: 336

Author Biography:

Joshilyn Jackson is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels, including Gods in Alabama and A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty. She lives in Decatur, Georgia, with her husband and their two children.

Listen to an Excerpt of the Novel : Read by Joshilyn Jackson

On listening to the Excerpt after reaching page 8:

Normally I seek out an Excerpt on either SoundCloud or Scribd long before I pick up a novel to read, however, I started to get a hankering for hearing how the character of Sandi might be read aloud which had me googling the title of the novel with “SoundCloud” as part of the search feature! I’ve found that is a much quicker route to getting to where your going on SoundCloud at least until I can restore my links in my sidebar which haven’t materalised since I self-hosted in late August; as it requires a re-organisation of the categories. Listening to the author reveal the voice for Shandi was as ingenius of my listening to The Ghost Bride for each of these authors Choo & Jackson have such a distinctive gift for reading aloud their own works of fiction!

Posted Friday, 19 September, 2014 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Child out of Wedlock, Domestic Violence, Drugs & Alcohol, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Fly in the Ointment, Modern Day, Realistic Fiction, The Deep South, TLC Book Tours, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, Unexpected Pregnancy, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Fiction

+Blog Book Tour+ I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

Posted Tuesday, 16 September, 2014 by jorielov Broadway Books, Crown Publishing Group, Erin Lindsay McCabe, I Shall Be Near To You, Random House Publishing Group 1 Comment

I Shall Be Near To You by Erin Lindsay McCabe

Published By: Broadway Books, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group (@CrownPublishing)

and part of: Penguin Random House (@penguinrandom)

Official Author Websites: Site | @ErinLindsMcCabe| Facebook
Available Formats: Hardcover, Ebook

Converse via: #IShall (main tag), #IShallBeNearToYou

Acquired Book By:

I was selected to be a tour stop on the “I Shall Be Near To You” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the publisher Crown Publishing Group, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Inspired to Read & Excitement Ahead of Time:

The beautiful cover art on the hardback edition I received to review is featured inside the Excerpt by the publisher’s Scribd page featured below my review. I must admit, I appreciate both versions of the cover-art designs, even if I’m a bit partial to the hardback as I think it gives a measure of mystery as to how a woman could hide behind the thin veil of a man’s clothes and walk onto the field of battle; serving her country alongside her husband. The second cover-art which is included on the Book Synopsis is a bit more elusive as to the central core of the story, as it draws you to think of a different thread of context. At least it had for me, as it appeared to be a woman who was caught in the middle of the era of war rather than a woman who joined the fight during the war itself.

I had the pleasure of participating in a Twitter chat ahead of my review posting on the 2nd of September, whereupon I was wrapped up in the excitement of this novel’s release and the joyous mirth of discovering book bloggers & readers who had already felt the inertia of its emotional pull. I was overjoyed being able to participate in a chat dedicated to one of my favourite branches of literature, and for giving me such an incredible start to this blog tour.

I Shall Be Near to You

In I SHALL BE NEAR TO YOU, McCabe introduces us to newlywed Rosetta Wakefield. More accustomed to working as her father’s farmhand and happiest doing what others might call “man’s work,” Rosetta struggles with how to be a good wife to her childhood beau and new husband, Jeremiah. When Jeremiah leaves home to join the Union army, Rosetta finds the only way she can honor Jeremiah is to be with her husband—no matter what..

Cutting off her hair and donning men’s clothing, Rosetta enlists in the army as Private Ross Stone so that she might stand beside her husband. Joining, however, is the easy part, and now Rosetta must not only live and train with her male counterparts as they prepare for imminent battle, but she must also deal with Jeremiah, who is struggling with his “fighting” wife’s presence, not to mention the constant threat of discovery..

In brilliant detail, inspired by the letters of the real Rosetta Wakeman, McCabe offers a riveting look at the day-to-day lives of these secret women fighters as they defied conventions and made their personal contributions to history. Both a tender love story and a hard look at war, I SHALL BE NEAR TO YOU offers a unique exploration of marriage, societal expectations, and the role of women in the Civil War through the lens of a beautifully written novel..

Places to find the book:

on 2nd September, 2014

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 336

Author Biography:

Erin studied literature and history at University of California, Santa Cruz, earned a teaching credential at California State University, Chico, and taught high school English for seven years. Since completing her MFA in Creative Writing at St. Mary’s College of California in 2010, Erin has taught Composition at St. Mary’s College and Butte College. A California native, Erin lives in the Sierra Foothills with her husband, son, and a small menagerie that includes one dog, four cats, two horses, numerous chickens, and three goats.

The [American] Civil War:

I learnt quite a heap about the Civil War whilst I was in high school, except to say, they left out quite a lot of important factors such as women who served their country alongside the men! I think I might have listened a bit closer to the lectures and the discussions, as to me, it was all starting to blur together after two terms of feeling as though we were going right round in a circle without any of it making a lot of sense in the end. Being the fact I grew up in the South, most of the lessons were focused on the Rebel Army rather than the Union; yet being that I’m from Northern Stock, I was more keen to know about Grant’s positions and where my ancestors might have fit into this war. It would take over a decade to learn about my Great Granddaddy who was a Captain with the Union, and fresh off the boat from Ireland. The best bit was learning how he was a farmer and how much he loved the land. In some ways, I was never surprised to have learnt more than half my ancestors who immigrated to America ended up as farmers; it seems right as rain to me, being that I’m a locavore who appreciates farm fresh fruit and veg, locally grown (without chemicals) and sourced.

It didn’t matter which side your family fought on during this war because it was a war to end all wars in of itself. It was a war where everyone fought side by side and both sides (the North & the South) felt they were in the right. It has a brutal history and it has an empowering moment of change; nothing was the same, and battles were won on the deaths of so many innocents. To find a story that places true-to-life characters in the middle of this great war and gives a searing arc of climax that befits the war itself as much as the barriers women faced during that time is an incredible find.

McCabe centers her story on the true grit of historical fact originating out of the Civil War itself; including having found a real-life Rosetta who was part of the inspiration for her own. She doesn’t hold back from revealing the cardinal truths of the battlefield or the wounded inside the hospital wards, yet she is sensitive to their plight and I felt lifted in spirit rather than bogged down in the horrors of war. I felt she tempered the truth with a narrative that gives you a breath to absorb the words without always taking the reality of what they are expressing to a shocking conclusion. McCabe’s best attribute is in knowing what to include and how what happens affects everyone you’ve come to know. The war is both the backdrop and the shifting force to pull everyone forward and apart at the same time. It is a testament of our past and a testament of the power to fight for everything you believe in.

Posted Tuesday, 16 September, 2014 by jorielov in 19th Century, Blog Tour Host, Civil War Era (1861-1865), Debut Author, Debut Novel, Fly in the Ointment, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Military Fiction, Vulgarity in Literature, War Drama