Category: 20th Century

Book Review | “Einstein at Home” by Friedrich Herneck

Posted Friday, 19 August, 2016 by jorielov (Translator) Josef Eisinger, Albert Einstein, Einstein at Home, Friedrich Herneck, Prometheus Books 2 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a reviewer for Prometheus Books and their imprints starting in [2016] as I contacted them through their Edelweiss catalogues and Twitter. I appreciated the diversity of titles across genre and literary explorations – especially focusing on Historical Fiction, Mystery, Science Fiction and Scientific Topics in Non-Fiction. I received a complimentary ARC copy of “Einstein at Home” direct from the publisher Prometheus Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

My lifelong appreciation of Albert Einstein:

I have been fascinated by Einstein for most of my life, as I am a keen reader of the quantum realms. I have oft wondered how he was outside of the public eye and this incredible tome gives a reader an insight into this private world of his that I would appreciate reading.

My lifelong appreciation on behalf of Albert Einstein started at quite a young age – as I was a science & science-fiction geek for as long as I can remember. There was something wicked genuine about everything I read on behalf of Einstein – from his pursuit of understanding the fabric of creation from both a religious and scientific background to his interests in taking theory and understanding to new levels of creative thought and illumination; Einstein to me, was one of those rare finds of a childhood where I spent a lot of time sorting out which scientists I wanted to learn more about over the score of my lifetime.

I started off in the fringes of where (recorded) history, time and scientific rhetoric leave the trail of his legacy and allow for pop cultural speculation, public praise and layreader intuition to take-over his personal history. Threading my way through whichever ‘new’ discovery I could put my hands on about Einstein’s journey was some of the happier memories growing up, as whenever I would even learn a new kernel of insight towards finding the stories behind the man who left everyone pondering E=mc² was worth pursuing!

Towards that end, I have several books in my personal library I am working towards reading including Einstein and Religion by Max Jammer and Einstein by Walter Isaacson.

I am thrilled to bits to have an unexpected ‘start’ to my non-fiction readings on behalf of the man whose inspired me to pursue re-living his path whilst attempting to see what he saw and understand what only he knew – retreating into a conversational collection of who he was before everything else was known is quite the treat!

Einstein at Home

These intimate, candid descriptions of the private life of Albert Einstein come from a series of interviews with Herta Waldow, a housekeeper who lived with Einstein and his wife and daughter from 1927 to 1933 at their residence in Berlin. After World War II, science historian Friedrich Herneck interviewed Ms. Waldow and published the conversations in the former East Germany. Unavailable in English till now, these five interviews offer fascinating glimpses into the great scientist’s daily routines while he lived as a celebrated scientist in Weimar Germany.

Einstein’s well-known idiosyncrasies come to life in these conversations: his disheveled hair that was only poorly trimmed by his myopic wife, his love of classical music, his playing of the violin to help him think, his delight in sailing, his wide circle of friends and many social engagements, and his female companions besides his wife. Many celebrity acquaintances are also mentioned: from movie star Charlie Chaplin and conductor Erich Kleiber to writers Thomas and Heinrich Mann and fellow scientists Max Planck, Max Born, and Erwin Schrödinger.

With a detailed introduction that puts these interviews in context, these colorful conversations create a vivid picture of Albert Einstein the man.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9781633881464

on 10th May, 2016

Pages: 200

About (Translator) Josef Eisinger

Josef Eisinger is the author of Einstein on the Road and the translator of Brahms’s letters in Johannes Brahms, Life and Letters, by Styra Avins.

A native of Vienna, he is a physicist whose research has ranged from nuclear physics to molecular biology and from the history of medicine to music history. He is professor emeritus in the Department of Structural and Chemical Biology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the author of some two hundred articles in professional journals and books, and the recipient of two Guggenheim fellowships.

Website | Goodreads | Amazon | LinkedIn

About Friedrich Herneck

Friedrich Herneck (1909-1993) was a German historian of science. Among his many books were Einstein and His Worldview and Einstein and the Atom Bomb.

Published By: Prometheus Books (@prometheusbks)

Originally published as Einstein privat in German (1978)

Available Formats: Trade Paperback & Ebook

Special Note:

Available in English for the first time, these five interviews with a housemaid who worked for Albert Einstein offer vivid glimpses of the great scientist’s life in Germany before World War II.

Converse via: #AlbertEinstein OR #Einstein, #QuantumPhysics OR #Physics + #ScienceBooks

Posted Friday, 19 August, 2016 by jorielov in #FuellYourSciFi, #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Albert Einstein, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Review (non-blog tour), Life in Another Country, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Prometheus Books, Quantum | Mechanics Physics Theory, Quantum Physics, Science, The World Wars, Vignettes of Real Life

Blog Book Tour | “The Secret Language of Stones” (Book No.2 of Daughters of La Lune series) by M.J. Rose

Posted Wednesday, 10 August, 2016 by jorielov Atria Books, M.J. Rose, Simon & Schuster, The Daughters of La Lune, The Secret Language of Stones 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours whereupon I am thankful to have been able to host such a diverse breadth of stories, authors and wonderful guest features since I became a hostess! I received a complimentary copy of “The Secret Language of Stones” direct from the publisher Atria Books (an imprint of Simon & Schuster) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

On why I wanted to continue reading the Daughters of La Lune:

I previously hosted Ms Rose during her blog tour for The Collector of Dying Breaths, whereupon I also interviewed her for the same tour. I had a fascination inside me about the Reincarnationist series, but it ended up my heart was attached quite dearly to the second trilogy making up the volumes of: The Book of Lost Fragrances, Seduction, and The Collector of Dying Breaths. I went into details about this on my previous M.J. Rose book review, but what intrigued me about returning into her next novel is how it was set to life in Paris itself.

The layers she knitted into the story to encourage a back-drop of suspense mixing inside Gothic Lit undertones and the possessiveness of a long-dead master of darkness, was imploring as I wanted to see how this story would balance most of what I’ve come to love inside an M.J. Rose novel! I was thinking this was in-part a departure from her Reincarnationist series as much as an extension of the passionate drive her characters have for not only their pursuit of joy but their pursuit of how to live their lives without the attachments which might not allow them to live as freely as their soul desires. Rose tends to write convicting fiction where her characters are seeking ‘something’ in relation to who they are at their innermost core whilst giving the reader a depth of back-story to soak inside whilst the characters thrive through the journey they undertake. – as related on my review of The Witch of Painted Sorrows

I have become quite intrigued by Ms Rose’s style for crafting her stories through sensory awareness, as I also made a footnote about on my review for The Witch of Painted Sorrows, stated as follows:

Rose has a spirit about the writer’s craft in her novels, I appreciate the touches of prose she stitches inside them because she wants you to be sensory aware of each key moment that triggers a deepening connection of ‘time and place’ for her characters. I noticed this in The Collector’s of Dying Breaths as much as I have inside The Witch of Painted Sorrows; as she endeavours to have you carried through what is nearly tangible by taste, smell, and a sixth sense attribute.

It isn’t so much that your merely reading an MJ Rose novel, your experiencing the full breadth of what she’s etching into the background of the story itself. Providing you with a portal of intrigue which defies time and catapults you through history’s mirrored door. I was quite spellbound by the first Daughters of La Lune novel and I have been eagerly awaiting the sequel, to see where Ms Rose is going to further takes us throughout the trilogy!

The Secret Language of Stones
by M.J. Rose
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

As World War I rages and the Romanov dynasty reaches its sudden, brutal end, a young jewelry maker discovers love, passion, and her own healing powers in this rich and romantic ghost story, the perfect follow-up to M.J. Rose’s “brilliantly crafted” (Providence Journal) novel The Witch of Painted Sorrows.

Nestled within Paris’s historic Palais Royal is a jewelry store unlike any other. La Fantasie Russie is owned by Pavel Orloff, protégé to the famous Faberge, and is known by the city’s fashion elite as the place to find the rarest of gemstones and the most unique designs. But war has transformed Paris from a city of style and romance to a place of fear and mourning. In the summer of 1918, places where lovers used to walk, widows now wander alone.

So it is from La Fantasie Russie’s workshop that young, ambitious Opaline Duplessi now spends her time making trench watches for soldiers at the front, as well as mourning jewelry for the mothers, wives, and lovers of those who have fallen. People say that Opaline’s creations are magical. But magic is a word Opaline would rather not use. The concept is too closely associated with her mother Sandrine, who practices the dark arts passed down from their ancestor La Lune, one of sixteenth century Paris’s most famous courtesans.

But Opaline does have a rare gift even she can’t deny, a form of lithomancy that allows her to translate the energy emanating from stones. Certain gemstones, combined with a personal item, such as a lock of hair, enable her to receive messages from beyond the grave. In her mind, she is no mystic, but merely a messenger, giving voice to soldiers who died before they were able to properly express themselves to loved ones. Until one day, one of these fallen soldiers communicates a message—directly to her.

So begins a dangerous journey that will take Opaline into the darkest corners of wartime Paris and across the English Channel, where the exiled Romanov dowager empress is waiting to discover the fate of her family. Full of romance, seduction, and a love so powerful it reaches beyond the grave, The Secret Language of Stones is yet another “spellbindingly haunting” (Suspense magazine), “entrancing read that will long be savored” (Library Journal, starred review).

Genres: Gothic Literature, Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller Suspense, War Drama

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781476778099

Also by this author: The Collector of Dying Breaths, The Witch of Painted Sorrows

Series: The Daughters of La Lune

Also in this series: The Witch of Painted Sorrows

Published by Atria Books

on 19th July, 2016

Format: Hardcover Edition

Pages: 320

Published By: Atria (@AtriaBooks)
{imprint of} Simon & Schuster (@simonschuster)

Converse via: #DaughtersOfLaLune, #SecretLanguageOfStones & #MJRose
Available Formats: Hardback and E-Book

About M.J. Rose

New York Times Bestseller, M.J. Rose grew up in New York City mostly in the labyrinthine galleries of the Metropolitan Museum, the dark tunnels and lush gardens of Central Park and reading her mother’s favorite books before she was allowed.

She believes mystery and magic are all around us but we are too often too busy to notice…books that exaggerate mystery and magic draw attention to it and remind us to look for it and revel in it. She is the author of more than a dozen novels, the co-president and founding board member of International Thriller Writers and the founder of the first marketing company for authors: AuthorBuzz.com. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut.

(Biography updated August 2016)

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Wednesday, 10 August, 2016 by jorielov in 20th Century, Art, Blog Tour Host, Crime Fiction, During WWI, Earthen Magic, France, Ghost Story, Gothic Literature, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Mystery, Historical Romance, Historical Thriller Suspense, Jewelry & Jewelry Design, Mediums & Clairvoyants, Multi-Generational Saga, Parapsychological Gifts, Parapsychological Suspense, Premonition-Precognitive Visions, Psychological Suspense, Supernatural Fiction, The World Wars, War Drama

#PubDay Book Review | “Two Across” by Jeff Bartsch A Contemporary Rom feat. crossword puzzles! Jorie was smitten at first sight of the plot!

Posted Tuesday, 19 July, 2016 by jorielov Grand Central Publishing, Hachette Book Group Inc., Jeff Bartsch, Two Across 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a new reviewer for Hachette Books and their imprints, I started by reviewing releases by FaithWords (the novels of Stephanie Grace Whitson), their INSPY (Inspirational Fiction) imprint of releases focusing on uplifting and spiritual stories which are a delight to read whilst engaging your mind in life affirming and heart-centered stories. I found Hachette via Edelweiss at the conclusion of [2015] and have been blessed to start reviewing for them.

One of the selections under their Grand Central Publishing imprint which interested me was ‘Two Across’ publishing July 2016. I hadn’t realised it was the trade paperback edition – thus I was quite surprised when the hardback edition arrived by post! I made a note of the #PubDay for my review celebrating the new release! I felt blessed to receive this as I haven’t had the pleasure of reading Grand Central’s authors in the past, although Leila Meacham is one I want to focus on!

I received a complimentary copy of “Two Across” direct from the publisher Grand Central Publishing (an imprint of Hachette Book Group Inc.) in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Happy #PubDay, Mr Bartsch!

#TwoAcross a #Crossword Romance!

ISBN for the NEW Trade Paperback: 9781455554614 | Pub Date: 19th July, 2016

Hallo, dear hearts! I have some wicked bookish news for you! Today is the trade paperback release of ‘Two Across’ which was a title I found via Edelweiss when I originally discovered Hachette’s catalogues and their incredible resources for bloggers! I was not expecting to receive this novel until Spring or Summer, however, a kind publicist at Grand Central sent me the beautiful hardback edition! I earmarked the #PubDay on my calendar as I knew I wanted to help celebrate it’s release come July!

What drew me into wanting to read this lovely novel is how I felt it was original and different than a traditional relationship-based romance, wherein it’s set to a different pace and works within an interesting premise. I like stories that stand out from the crowd and this one definitely had that appeal!

I grew up wanting to be better at crosswords than I can honestly claim, as if the puzzles themselves weren’t pertaining to popular culture or films/tv or music, I was at a proper loss at times to understand the complexities of the clues! This is why I liked themed crossword puzzles rather than say the NY Times version! I also loved finding the puzzles included with TCM’s Guide for Classic Movie Lovers! Those were super awesome – you could go on a scavenger hunt through the guide itself if you were ‘lost’ on a clue!

I love finding new voices in literature – especially Contemporary voices who are writing about our contemporary world. I also liked how this felt slightly quirky – in the vein of “You’ve Got Mail”, “Music and Lyrics” or “Kate & Leopold”! I love sophisticated Rom-Coms in the movies and I’m slowly obtaining a list of authors who are writing the same caliber of Rom-Com in fiction! I was wicked excited to start reading this one, truly!

As I reviewed the hardback copy, you’ll find all the info for it below ahead of my review.

Notation on Cover Art: I personally *love!* the original cover art featured on the hardback edition – it especially captures the allure & joy of crossword puzzles! I even liked how it implies the connection between the two lead characters and how their story is starting to connect through their passion of the puzzles themselves whilst remaining a bit aloof and apart from each other. I just loved how the image pulls together the premise of the plot and ties into the synopsis quite well!

Two Across

Highly awkward teenager Stanley Owens meets his match in beautiful, brainy Vera Baxter when they tie for first place in the annual National Spelling Bee-and the two form a bond that will change both of their lives.

Though their mothers have big plans for them-Stanley will become a senator, Vera a mathematics professor-neither wants to follow these pre-determined paths. So Stanley hatches a scheme to marry Vera in a sham wedding for the cash gifts, hoping they will enable him to pursue his one true love: crossword puzzle construction. In enlisting Vera to marry him, though, he neglects one variable: she's secretly in love with him, which makes their counterfeit ceremony an exercise in misery for her.

Realizing the truth only after she's moved away and cut him out of her life, Stanley tries to atone for his mistakes and win her back. But he's unable to find her, until one day he comes across a puzzle whose clues make him think it could only have been created by Vera. Intrigued, he plays along, communicating back to her via his own gridded clues. But will they connect again before it's all too late?

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781455554621

on 4th August, 2015

Pages: 304

Published by: Grand Central Publishing (@GrandCentralPub)
an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. (@HachetteBooks)

Formats Available: Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook

Converse via: #crossword & #RomCom

+ use these two in combo: #Contemporary #Romance

About Jeff Bartsch

Jeff Bartsch is the son of an English professor, and grew up surrounded by stories and literature. He studied creative writing at the University of Wisconsin, held the Katey Lehman Fellowship in creative writing at Penn State University. Before his career as as an advertising copywriter, he worked at the U.S. Postal Service, a plastics factory, a video monitoring service, delivered wedding cakes, was a baker, and an architect's assistant.

He wrote this book on New Jersey Transit trains while commuting to and from New York City. Jeff grew up in Wisconsin, and has lived in San Francisco, Boston and New York. His many adventures along the way include being held up at gunpoint, chasing down a purse snatcher, winning a trophy in a pool tournament, acting in a Woody Allen play in Germany, bicycling halfway across the country, and delivering newspapers on the coldest day in Milwaukee's recorded history at minus 26 degrees.

He's an avid cyclist, home brewer and cook, and currently lives in New York with his inspiring daughter and their collection of imagination vehicles, commonly known as books.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Posted Tuesday, 19 July, 2016 by jorielov in 20th Century, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Coming-Of Age, Contemporary Romance, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Domestic Violence, Grand Central Publishing, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Mother-Son Relationships, New York City, Realistic Fiction, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, The Sixties, Vulgarity in Literature

Book Review | “The Golden Chain” (Charton Minster No.2) by Margaret James #ChocLitSaturdays

Posted Saturday, 25 June, 2016 by jorielov Charton Minster series, ChocLitUK, Margaret James, The Golden Chain 0 Comments

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

I am always seeking relationship-based romance which strikes a chord within my mind’s eye as well as my heart! I’m a romantic optimist, and I love curling into a romance where I can be swept inside the past, as history becomes lit alive in the fullness of the narrative and I can wander amongst the supporting cast observing the principal characters fall in love and sort out if they are a proper match for each other!

I love how an Indie Publisher like ChocLitUK is such a positive alternative for those of us who do not identify ourselves as girls and women who read ‘chick-lit’. I appreciate the stories which alight in my hands from ChocLit as much as I appreciate the inspirational romances I gravitate towards because there is a certain level of depth to both outlets in romance which encourage my spirits and gives me a beautiful story to absorb! Whilst sorting out how promote my book reviews on behalf of ChocLit, I coined the phrase “ChocLitSaturdays”, which is a nod to the fact my ChocLit reviews & features debut on ‘a Saturday’ but further to the point that on the ‘weekend’ we want to dip into a world wholly ideal and romantic during our hours off from the work week!

Acquired Book By: I am a regular reviewer for ChocLitUK, where I hand select which books in either their backlist and/or current releases I would like to read next for my #ChocLitSaturdays blog feature. As of June 2016, I became a member of the ChocLit Stars Team in tandem with being on the Cover Reveal Team which I joined in May 2016. I reference the Stars as this is a lovely new reader contribution team of sending feedback to the publisher ahead of new book releases. As always, even if I’m involved with a publisher in this sort of fashion, each review is never influenced by that participation and will always be my honest impression as I read the story. Whether the author is one I have previously read or never had the pleasure to read until the book greets my shelf.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Golden Chain” from ChocLit in exchange for an honest review! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein. It should be noted ‘The Golden Chain’ was requested prior to the two teams I joined on behalf of ChocLitUK. I simply have become more active with the Reveal Team & begun my journey as a ChocLit Star in-between receiving this novel and the day my review posts.

Why Jorie Loves reading the Charton Minster series:

Ms James has such a keen writerly talent for inserting us straight into the Nineteen Hundreds as if we were always meant to re-visit them with such felicity of spirit and moxie as the story of Rose Courtenay translates inside The Silver Locket! I love the expressions and the centreing of this timescape, she does well to include a breath of pause for the traditionalism and the society conventions of the day, allowing us to see the full scope of what is causing Rose the most duress.

The background of the story is cross-set between the small countryside area of Dorset where Rose’s family estate resides and London; as the story first introduces us to her family before moving straight into the heart of war, where nurses are in limited supply! The moxie it would have taken for an eighteen year old not weathered on life or experience to embrace a full-on charge of nursing rotations is hard to get your mind around until you meet Rose Courtenay, who proves everyone is able to do far more than they originally dare possible! Ms James definitely sets a high standard for war dramas and for the glimpses of an era beseeched by war and the after effects of how war changes everyone involved.

How Ms James was able to write such convincingly real passages of WWI straight from the trenches to the field units for the nursing staff, I am unsure; as she is one historical author who grants you such a harrowing view of what it must have felt like to be there. Research is brilliant but James has found a way to see past what can be researched and grant us this portrait of trench warfare and on-call nursing staff that brings to full light the difficulties and the brutality of serving aboard during an on-going war.

-quoted from my review of The Silver Locket

You can well understand why I am quite delighted I can continue to read each installment of this series, and become caught up in the drama and lives of each of the characters as they make their entrance and take their cue to exit. It’s one of those timeless classics you hope you can stumble across & dearly love!

The Golden Chain

Can first love last forever?

1931 is the year that changes everything for Daisy Denham. Her family has not long swapped life in India for Dorset, England when she uncovers an old secret.

At the same time, she meets Ewan Fraser - a handsome dreamer who wants nothing more than to entertain the world and for Daisy to play his leading lady.

Ewan offers love and a chance to escape with a touring theatre company. As they grow closer, he gives her a golden chain and Daisy gives him a promise – that she will always keep him in her heart.

But life on tour is not as they’d hoped, Ewan is tempted away by his career and Daisy is dazzled by the older, charismatic figure of Jesse Trent. She breaks Ewan’s heart and sets off for a life in London with Jesse.

Only time will tell whether some promises are easier to make than keep …

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Book Page on World Weaver Press

ISBN: 9781906931643

on 1st May, 2011

Pages: 336

Published by: ChocLitUK (@ChocLituk)

Available Formats: Paperback, Audiobook & E-Book

Order of Sequence of Charton Minster series:

The Silver Locket Book One (review)

The Golden Chain Book Two | The Penny Bangle Book Three

The Wedding Diary Book Four | Magic Sometimes Happens Book Five

Converse via: #ChartonMinsterSeries, #HistFic, #HistRom + #ChocLit

About Margaret James

Margaret James was born and brought up in Hereford and now lives in Devon. She studied English at London University, and has written many short stories, articles and serials for magazines. She is the author of sixteen published novels.

Her debut novel for Choc Lit, The Silver Locket, received a glowing review from the Daily Mail and reached the Top 20 Small Publishers Fiction List in November 2010 and in the same year a Reviewers’ Choice Award from Single Titles. The Golden Chain also hit the Top 20 Small Publishers Fiction List in May 2011. The Wedding Diary was shortlisted for the 2014 Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

Novels: The Silver Locket, The Golden Chain, The Penny Bangle, The Wedding Diary and Magic Sometimes Happens which are part of the Charton Minster series.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Saturday, 25 June, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Adoption, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, British Literature, Brothers and Sisters, Child out of Wedlock, ChocLitSaturdays, ChocLitUK, Coming-Of Age, England, Family Drama, Fathers and Daughters, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Green-Minded Publishers, Historical Fiction, Indie Author, Modern British Author, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Multi-Generational Saga, Romance Fiction, Siblings, Small Towne Fiction, the Thirties, Twin Siblings, Unexpected Pregnancy, Vulgarity in Literature, Women's Health

Double-Showcase: Review & Q&A | “Heart of Stone” (An #EllieStone #Mystery, No. 4) by James W. Ziskin Including footnotes on the series and a convo with the author!

Posted Wednesday, 8 June, 2016 by jorielov Ellie Stone Mysteries, Heart of Stone, James W. Ziskin, No Stone Unturned, Prometheus Books, Seventh Street Books, Stone Cold Dead, Styx & Stone 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I was selected to review “Heart of Stone” by JKS Communications: A Literary Publicity Firm. JKS is the first publicity firm I started working with when I launched Jorie Loves A Story in August, 2013. I am honoured to continue to work with them now as a 3rd Year Book Blogger.

As a new reviewer for Seventh Street Books, I was quite intrigued by discovering another new author under this imprint for Prometheus Books, as thus far along I have found this imprint to be producing wicked good content for mystery enthusiasts! I requested if it were possible to receive the first book in the series, “Styx & Stone” as this series is in-progress and has a total of four novels thus far released.

I received my complimentary copy of Heart of Stone from the publisher Seventh Street Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Borrowed Books via my Local Library: I had the pleasure of seeking out the two books between ‘Styx & Stone’ and ‘Heart of Stone’ via my local library. ‘No Stone Unturned’ was available quite readily via my local library’s catalogue, however, I had use our ILL (inter-library loan) services to fetch a copy of ‘Stone Cold Dead’ which arrived quite timely, I must say! I was not obliged to post my reflections or reviews on behalf of these novels, as I sought them out for my own edification to understand the series and the character ‘Ellie Stone’ better as I read the first novel and the fourth installment of the Ellie Stone Mysteries. Likewise, I was not compensated for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

A few surprises awaited me as I read the Ellie Stone Mysteries:

[ Reflections on ‘No Stone Unturned’ ]

Part of what makes me think of Jesse Stone* as I am reading an Ellie Stone Mystery is how similar the two are in their habits. Ellie is never far from a hard drink (a habit that nearly cost Jesse Stone his life and career) nor a lit cigarette. Her mannerisms are a reflection of the former but with a bit more softness to her personality than a hardened edge like Jesse maintains. Although, truth be told, Ellie isn’t all roses either – the stories get to her on some level as does the direction of her life – she’s not as happy as she eludes nor pretends.

Ellie goes after stories – she doesn’t wait for the call to find them; if she did, I fear she’d never work as an investigative journalist. Her uphill climb against the men notwithstanding (she’s a bit anti-feminist) Ellie focuses on what she can do to charm the facts out of a scene. Hence why when she returned to a crime scene, she picked up a few clues no one else bothered to seek out. Especially since a bottlecap or a smudge of motor oil would not be at top of a detective’s list of ‘what to find’ on scene!

Yet, I felt pulled out of this novel straight from the beginning – I barely left the initial crime scene search, as I felt I was losing traction fast with the impression I had of Ellie Stone from Styx & Stone – she felt altered in this installment, almost as if the author had changed his writing style in presenting Ellie to those of us who loved her in her debut! Once I lose pace with a character and the manner in which she’s meant to be seen in a series, I become disillusioned. It is quite rare to happen to a series I get wholly enthused about in the opening act of a serial in-progress, but it has happened in the past. Sometimes, despite the joy of discovering a new series, something wans in the execution of successive installments – for me, Ellie felt harder and embittered more than usual in this exploit. I also felt the style was colder somehow – it’s hard to put into words – how I felt when I read this story was ‘off’ from the joy I had with Styx & Stone. I did not want to ‘put’ the original debut down whereas this time round, I was skipping forward to see if I could re-attach myself ‘somewhere’ but found it was impossible.

[ Reflections on ‘Stone Cold Dead’ ]

The plot rankled, however, I appreciated Norma’s entrance as a competent secretary who has a keen thirst for research to aide Ellie Stone! Unfortunately, Norma’s entrance as wonderful as it might be was not enough to anchour me into the story. There was something about the back-story and delivery of Ellie’s pursuing investigation that simply did not root me to the plot and thereby, I had no interest to know what became of the missing girl. Sad as that might be, I was simply not invested.

Part of the problem, too, is there is a certain way to highlight the downward spiral of a character – Ellie and Jesse (i.e. Jesse Stone, again) share this in common; they are both exhibiting self-destructive behaviour patterns, one sought help finally through psychotherapy but the way in which Ellie is being presented consistently through this installment, somehow it felt contrite and predictable. Almost as if she would succumb to this pattern of a lifestyle choice because of who she was and the version of herself she wanted to be most. Where you feel empathy for Jesse, you feel pity for Ellie; not quite the way I think she was meant to be portrayed?

*NOTE: All cross-references to Jesse Stone are based on the Jesse Stone Mystery Movies starring Tom Selleck as I haven’t had the pleasure of reading the book series.

In regards to the style of the Ellie Stone Mysteries – the original version was represented again in short bursts but faded as quickly as it resumed. Leading into my readings of Heart of Stone, I can honestly say I was betwixt and between my final thoughts on how I felt about Ellie Stone.

Heart of Stone
Subtitle: An Ellie Stone Mystery

On a summer day in 1960, two men dive off a lakeside cliff and plummet to their death on the rocks below. By all appearances, this is a tragic accident. Or was it? Ellie Stone jumps in with both feet to investigate, risking her safety, and her heart. “Heart of Stone” is the fourth installment in Ziskin’s Ellie Stone Mysteries.

Two men fall to their deaths from a cliff near a lake in the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York. Police rule this to be a tragic accident, and that the two victims – one, a stranger to the lake and, the other, a teenage boy from a nearby music camp – didn’t know each other. Stranger than that, Ellie notices her elderly cousin’s station wagon parked 20 yards from the edge of the cliff.

These details cause Ellie to investigate. She sticks her nose where it’s unwanted, rattling nerves and putting herself in jeopardy. Wading into a slippery morass of left-wing, Jewish intellectuals, rabid John Birchers, and charismatic evangelicals, Ellie must navigate old grudges and Cold War passions, lost ideals and betrayed loves.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1-63388-183-9

on 7th June, 2016

Pages: 290

Ellie Stone Mystery series:

Interesting Trivia: this series has been optioned for a television series!

“Stone Cold Dead” – received a nomination for the 2016 Lefty Award for Best World Mystery Novel. “No Stone Unturned” received a coveted Anthony Award nomination for Best Paperback Original in 2015.

Styx & Stone | No.1 (review)

No Stone Unturned | No.2 | Book Synopsis

Stone Cold Dead | No.3 | Book Synopsis

Heart of Stone | No.4

Published By: Seventh Street Books (@SeventhStBooks)

Available Formats: Trade Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #EllieStoneMysteries OR #EllieStoneMystery

Read an Excerpt of Heart of Stone on the author’s site!

About James W. Ziskin

A linguist by training, Ziskin studied romance languages and literature at the University of Pennsylvania. After completing his graduate degree, he worked in New York as a photo-news producer and writer, and then as director of NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò.

He has since spent 15 years in the Hollywood post-production industry, running large international operations in the subtitling/localization and visual effects fields. Ziskin grew up in Amsterdam, New York, and now lives in the Hollywood Hills.

Photo Credit: William Ziskin

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Posted Wednesday, 8 June, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, 20th Century, Adulterous Affair, Amateur Detective, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Brothers and Sisters, Classical Music | Composers, Clever Turns of Phrase, Crime Fiction, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Diary Accountment of Life, Epistolary Novel | Non-Fiction, Equality In Literature, Father-Daughter Relationships, Fathers and Daughters, Hard-Boiled Mystery, Indie Author, Investigative Reporter | Journalist, JKS Communications: Literary Publicity Firm, Judiasm, Lady Detective Fiction, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Music History, Noir Crime Drama, Photography, Reader Submitted Q&A, Religious History, Singletons & Commitment, Sociological Behavior, Story in Diary-Style Format, The Sixties, Vulgarity in Literature, Writing Style & Voice

Category: 20th Century

About (Translator) Josef Eisinger

About Friedrich Herneck

About M.J. Rose

ISBN for the NEW Trade Paperback: 9781455554614 | Pub Date: 19th July, 2016

As I reviewed the hardback copy, you’ll find all the info for it below ahead of my review.

About Jeff Bartsch

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features) and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):

I wanted to create a bit of a niche on Jorie Loves A Story to showcase romance fiction steeped in relationships, courtships, and the breadth of marriage enveloped by characters written honestly whose lives not only endear you to them but they nestle into your heart as their story is being read!

About Margaret James

About James W. Ziskin

Why I feature #ChocLitSaturdays (book reviews & guest author features)
and created #ChocLitSaturday (the chat via @ChocLitSaturday):