Posted Friday, 12 June, 2015 by jorielov Anita Daher, Iain Reading, Kitty Hawk Flying Detective Agency series, Larry Verstraete, Missing in Paradise, Rebelight Publishing Inc., The Walking Fish, Wonder Horse 0 Comments
Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Chapter by Chapter, where I receive opportunities to host Cover Reveals & Author Guest Features on behalf of the Indie Publisher Month9Books. This is the second time I was offered to host a blog tour outside of Month9Books, featuring another Indie Publisher: Rebelight Publishing! I jumped at the chance to read this exciting novel for Middle Grade readers, as I am always seeking out light infused Children’s Lit which has a resounding story-line stitched together with a life lesson and/or a character who children can relate too as much as they can celebrate having found. For a bit of background on Rebelight Publishing, please read my anchour supplement on the top of my review for “Missing in Paradise”.
I received a complimentary copy of “Wonder Horse” direct from the publisher Rebelight Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Horse dramas and Jorie:
I grew up with a wicked fascination with horses and the horse dramas writers would spin into creation via novels and motion pictures. I still remember staying up way past my bedtime in order to finish reading one of the Black Stallion series novels or one from the Thoroughbred series! I was the girl who cherished The Saddle Club and wished she had a wicked awesome group of girls to ride horses with and develop a keenly wicked friendship circle!
Horse dramas were simply an organic progression of where I would want to go literally through stories from the moment I stepped outside the saddle as I was a young rider. I have loads of happy memories following the hooves and dramas of horse girls, women, and men in motion pictures inasmuch as I get a wicked excitement in my heart when I find a new book coming out about the strength of the bond between horse and humans. Young or old, Children’s Lit related or Western Fiction, if the story has a grounding of insight into horses and the inseparable connection of love they give back to those of us who have realised the friendship they give so freely, than the odds are favourable I am going to find the next story which reaches my hands to be a memorable read!
Hence why when this blog tour was only a whisper of a thought on Twitter when Rebelight started tweeting about it, I *knew!* I had to take part! I wanted to read the story which has been re-translated into English from it’s original published Norwegian!
By the by, with the current winner of the Triple Crown creating a buzz in the twitterverse with the tag #WonderHorse, methinks we should have started tweeting out with #WonderHorseMG to create the distinction. Sometimes I worry books will be overshadowed by more popular tags whose ‘chatter’ is anything but on the publishing industry radar.
Wonder Horse
by Anita Daher
Source: Publisher via Chapter by Chapter
Fitting into a new school in a new city isn’t easy, but dreams come true for Sera with a gift from her parents: a gorgeous and spirited American Paint horse. Sera’s bubble bursts when a mean girl, Brittany, tells her that neither she nor her less than well-trained horse belong with the rest of the “reiners” in their riding class. As Sera sets out to prove Brittany wrong, she risks losing her passion for training and the friendship of Dev, another girl who truly understands her.
Genres: Children's Literature, Middle Grade Places to find the book:
Add to LibraryThing
Published by Rebelight Publishing Inc.
on 8th May, 2015
Format: Paperback
Originally published as “Wager the Wonder Horse” by Stabenfeldt (Stavanger, Norway) in 2011 and distributed in six languages: Norwegian, Hungarian, Czech, German, Finnish and Swedish.
Published By: Rebelight Publishing, Inc. (@RebelightBooks)
Converse via: #WonderHorse & #MGLit
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
About Anita Daher
Anita Daher has been entrenched in the publishing industry since 1995, and is (thus far) author of fourteen books for children and teens. Aside from short stints as grave-plot seller, tour guide, and children’s party clown, she’s worked in aviation, publishing and broadcasting. When not word wrangling, she enjoys inhabiting characters on stage and screen.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Posted Friday, 12 June, 2015 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Bookish Films, Canada, Canadian Literature, Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours, Childhood Friendship, Children's Literature, Coming-Of Age, Equality In Literature, Juvenile Fiction, Middle Grade Novel, Modern Day, Motion Picture Inter-related to Bookish Topic, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Transfer Student at School
Posted Wednesday, 25 February, 2015 by jorielov Carrie Snyder, Girl Runner, Harper Books, HarperCollins Publishers 2 Comments
Acquired Book By:
I was selected to be a tour stop on the “Girl Runner” virtual book tour through TLC Book Tours. I received a complimentary ARC copy of the book direct from the publisher HarperCollins Publishers, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Inspired to Read:
I grew up watching the Winter (Olympic) Games, whilst the Games themselves inspired me to correspond with other girls who lived overseas, as my original pen pals were sought through a friendship exchange linked to the Norwegian Games in the early 1990s. Those friendships dissolved in my early to mid twenties, but the friendships sparked a love of exchanging postal mail and letters of correspondence! A tradition that I still carry forward today, as I will be blogging a bit more about my love for postal mail, stationeries, mixed media collage and postal mail art; intermixed with my love of knitting, as segues of how a bookish girl like me has found beauty and joy in lost arts of the recent past.
The Games themselves by definition and by example, lead us towards a world that is close-knit and tied together through sportsmanship and the honour of competing not merely against each other on teams, but against our ‘best moment inside the sport itself’ to better ourselves and strengthen our abilities therein. It’s a magical and inspirational time every four years, as we get to dip inside a country’s history and the passion they have for not only the continuation of the Games themselves but the diplomacy and the curated friendships that athletes find amongst the community of which they find themselves living for this moment in time and history. The Olympic Village stories combine with the Opening & Closing Ceremonies and the documentaries on the host country, to knit together my overall joy of watching from afar as the Games pursue as the telecast feeds are limited by time zone and distance.
I anchoured myself into the Winter Games a bit quicker than the Summer Games, but I enjoy each of them quite equally, whilst finding the X-Games are a wicked sweet surprise in-between! I have fond memories extending out of Nagano, Japan; Vancouver, British Columbia; London, England; and Beijing, China which gives an overview of my favourite Winter & Summer Games of the past decade or so. When I came to discover the narrative behind Girl Runner, I must confess I had an intense cascade of beautiful memories alighting through my mind’s eye as I considered accepting this novel for review. To explore a part of the Olympic past cast against a fictional character’s story simply enveloped me in full anticipation of what I would discover within the pages themselves!
On a separate note, I had to remind myself that I was a charity runner when I was nine years old who accomplished more than the runners twice her age or older. I hadn’t even realised I was running further and faster than the others around me; as I did experience a bit of what Snyder talks about in her novel Girl Runner where everything outside your run starts to blur and it is you alone on the track or path you’ve elected to race. Running a race isn’t always about a specific end result, it can be for the clock in competition or it can simply be a defining moment where you seek to prove your own fortitude of strength. How far can you personally take yourself to run? How far will you go? The irony is that before I picked up Girl Runner I had forgotten I was a runner myself; one who elected not to run for sport, but to run for myself. I gave myself the freedom to pace my extensions and my distance by what I knew I could achieve against the clock of how long the charity run would last. The best joy was knowing my true best was better than I could have dreamt.
Running gives you an honest account and assessment of your capabilities — how far you can push yourself and how where your own barriers might lie to hold you back from what you can do. There is freedom of spirit in running over and beyond where you felt you physically could travel.
I was encouraged to run during recess and P.E. even though I knew I could not compete with the girls who would make the track team. I decided to find my own buoyancy of rhythm, to tap into where my breath could match my feet and where my gait could extend itself into an individual pace of quickness. I hadn’t realised how I have missed that feeling of achieving something I never expected to gain. Running is an elevated joy from walking; but being in motion in and out of time itself is the appeal.
Girl Runner
by Carrie Snyder
Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours
An unforgettable novel about competition, ambition, and a woman’s struggle to earn a place in a man’s world, Girl Runner is the story of 1928 Olympic gold medalist Aganetha Smart. Will Aganetha’s undeniable talent help her to outrun the social conventions of her time, or the burden of her family’s secrets?
As a young runner, Aganetha Smart defied everyone’s expectations to win a gold medal for Canada in the 1928 Olympics. It was a revolutionary victory, because these were the first Games in which women could compete in track events—and they did so despite opposition. But now Aganetha is in a nursing home, and nobody realizes that the frail centenarian was once a bold pioneer.
When two young strangers appear asking to interview Aganetha for their documentary about female athletes, she readily agrees. Despite her frailty, she yearns for adventure and escape, and though her achievement may have been forgotten by history, her memories of chasing gold in Amsterdam remain sharp. But that triumph is only one thread in the rich tapestry of her life. Her remarkable story is colored by tragedy as well as joy, and as much as Aganetha tries, she cannot outrun her past.
Part historical page-turner, part contemporary mystery, Girl Runner peels back the layers of time to reveal how Aganetha’s amazing gift helped her break away from a family haunted by betrayals and sorrow. But as the pieces of her life take shape, it becomes clear that the power of blood ties does not diminish through the years, and that these filmmakers may not be who they claim to be. . . .
Genres: Canadian Lit, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 9780062336057
Published by Harper Books
on 3rd February, 2015
Pages: 288
Published by: Harper Books (@harperbooks)
an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers (@HarperCollins)
Available Formats: Hardback & Ebook
Converse via: #GirlRunner
About Carrie Snyder
Carrie Snyder’s Girl Runner is shortlisted for the 2014 Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Her previous book, The Juliet Stories, was shortlisted for the prestigious Governor General’s Literary Award and named one of the Globe and Mail‘s Top 100 Books of the Year. Her first book, the short story collection Hair Hat, was shortlisted for the Danuta Gleed Award for Short Fiction. A mother of four, Carrie lives with her family in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Website | Twitter | Facebook
Posted Wednesday, 25 February, 2015 by jorielov in 20th Century, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, ARC | Galley Copy, Audio Play, Audiobook, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book | Novel Extract, Bookish Films, Canada, Canadian Literature, Cats and Kittens, Chapter or Novel Adaptation in Audio, Clever Turns of Phrase, Death of a Sibling, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, During WWI, Geographically Specific, Grief & Anguish of Guilt, Herbalist, Historical Fiction, Interviews Related to Content of Novel, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Literary Fiction, Lyrical Quotations, Midwife | Midwifery, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Realistic Fiction, Siblings, Sisters & the Bond Between Them, Soundcloud, Sports, The Olympic Games (Winter or Summer), the Roaring Twenties, TLC Book Tours, Wordsmiths & Palettes of Sage
Posted Wednesday, 4 February, 2015 by jorielov Imago Chronicles, Imago: A Warrior's Tale, Lorna Suzuki, Self Published 0 Comments
An unexpected encounter after #IndieChat with an Indie Novelist whose book series has been pitched and accepted into motion picture adaptation, led me on a bit of an unexpected foray into a series that is both challenging (as it is outside my comfort levels on one score) as it is empowering (as it is told from the point of view of a female warrior); thus I stumbled into the world of “Imago” by Lorna Suzuki.
Acquired Samplers By:
Chapter Samplers for her Imago Novels provided for free download by the author, Lorna Suzuki via her Smashwords Author’s Page. The samplers are complimentary of the author, Ms. Suzuki to encourage readers to become familiar with her writing style, character, and the breadth of where her fantasy novels will lead a reader to journey ahead of purchase. I was not obligated to post a review nor share my opinions of the chapter samplers I downloaded; as I elected to do this for my own edification. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Why my curiosity was piqued:
When I noted the series was referred to as being similar in style and voice as “Lord of the Rings” I knew it was quite the epic story; a High Fantasy with a compelling arc of narrative and driven by character. Character driven stories are my absolute delight to read, however, being that the lead protagonist is a warrior I was quite prepared to encounter a woman with an arduous past rife with potentially intense trauma and recovery; psychologically speaking, I knew most characters writ inside stories of this nature have an uphill climb to recover from what they were afflicted by in their lives.
Mind you the mash-up of saying this was a LOTR + 300 equates out to The Last Samurai; half of me wondered what honestly appealed to me personally as I would run in the complete opposite direction of the 300 film series even if I happily watched the first three Lord of the Rings per release month! (including a *midnight!* release!) There were sequences within the Trilogy (LOTR) films that were a bit mind-numbing (i.e. the battle scenes, for starters) but it was the overall journey of the characters that left me speechless and hungry for each new installment. My heart shattered at the conclusion, as despite knowing where Frodo and Gandalf would end their journey, it still uncorked my emotional heart’s ability to spilt out tears as the credits rolled.
No, what I think drew me to becoming curious about this series was the author’s approach to inspire a reader’s attention, which quite ironically has left her in a sea of controversial feedback! ?? I seriously do not understand the reading public at times. I am a firm believer in ‘more information upfront’ when it comes to stories and the contents of novels. A quick blurb or a shorter showcase (a traditional book review) isn’t going to sway me one way or another because the bones of the story are left to your imagination; that’s a dicey slope! How do you know if you are going to soak inside the story and/or appreciate the tone of the writer’s voice? What if the undertone is underlit too dark? What if there isn’t enough light to hold you into their vision?
I often lament IRL (and as the occasion arises virtually) the reason I was drawn to being a book blogger is because I wanted to blog my heart out about the stories that soak inside my imagination. I want to write down the bones and flesh out the pulse of what inspired me to ‘stay within’ the writer’s world. To cultivate an open conversation about what moved me, what staid with me, but most of all, how I was left impressed by the characters, the arc of the character’s journey, and what was left within me once the story was put down. (or you could read what I said on my Introduction Post!)
If something takes me ‘out of the story’ or if the pace and/or flow of the narrative itself is disrupted by an oppressively heavy amount of vulgarity (read my Review Policy) or there are choices where the level of (graphic) violence sickens me to my stomach rather than curates a plausible reason for inclusion (clarified: violence in moderation for sake of action/trauma/plot point/back-story etc; not explicit for explicitness sake!); then I will equally be as open about these ruminations as I am gushing about why the story left me with pieces of it’s essence firmly etched into my memory.
Like most readers, I have my own barometer — I have stumbled across stories that on the surface contradict what I wrote inside my Review Policy; as there are ‘exceptions’ to this rule of mine, as most will find they have their own exceptions to the general advisory of which stories they will accept whilst reading and which stories they cannot read, irregardless of the story’s best intentions to capture your interest. I attempt to keep an open-mind on which stories alight on my path, either due to the ‘timing’ of their discovery and/or the storyline itself; there are numerous inter-connections between one story to the next, to see the path of our reading lives intersecting with our path at a moment where a story was meant to be read or put down for another time. It is a mindfulness to become aware of stories giving us this tangible connection to the world’s creative conscience inasmuch as the art of the craft behind how the stories are written and revealed to us. Read More
Posted Wednesday, 4 February, 2015 by jorielov in Book Spotlight of E-Book (ahead of POD/print edition), Bookish Discussions, Bookish Films, Canadian Literature, Cliffhanger Ending, Debut Author, Debut Novel, Domestic Violence, Elves & the Elven, Equality In Literature, Fantasy Fiction, Flashbacks & Recollective Memories, Folklore and Mythology, Heroic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Inspiring Video Related to Content, Light vs Dark, Lyrical Quotations, Martial Art History, Methodology of Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy, Multi-cultural Characters and/or Honest Representations of Ethnicity, Psychological Abuse, Realistic Fiction, Sampler Chapters &/or Excerpt of Novel, Self-Published Author, Sudden Absence of Parent, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Supernatural Fiction, Suspense, The Deep South, Trauma | Abuse & Recovery, Writing Style & Voice
Posted Friday, 30 January, 2015 by jorielov Eternity4Popsicle Publishing, I Walter, Mike Hartner 3 Comments
Acquired Book By:
I joined Kate Tilton’s Book Bloggers as a way to seek out stories written by emerging Self Published and/or Indie Published writers who might not otherwise get highlighted by book bloggers. This was the first novel that interested me to request for review, as I enjoyed reading the premise inasmuch as the request was to read outside of a firm deadline. This is not an organised blog tour, thereby those of us who request to read the books and/or host the authors Ms. Tilton organises is scheduled around our own time frames. I received a complimentary copy of the book direct from the author Mike Hartner, in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
I, Walter
by Mike Hartner
Source: Author via Kate Tilton's Book Bloggers
I, Walter is the first in a series of books in a saga which will span continents and time to arrive in present day North America.
Each in the series will be connected, though that connection may not be obvious for several more books.
It's almost like looking at a menorah. Many lines, seemingly individual, connect to center at different points.
Walter Crofter was born into Elizabethan England.
In a country and a time where favor and politics were both deadly, can an honest boy stay true to himself?
Especially given his family background?
Genres: Action & Adventure Fiction, Historical Fiction, Nautical Fiction, Young Adult Fiction Places to find the book:
Borrow from a Public Library
Add to LibraryThing
ISBN: 978-0973356137
Series: The Eternity Series, No.1
Also in this series: Intangible, Beneath Creek Waters
Published by Eternity4Popsicle Publishing
on 10th May, 2013
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 225
Published by: Eternity4Popsicle Publishing (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Available Formats: Paperback, Ebook
Converse via: #MikeHartner, #IWalter, #YALit
About Mike Hartner
Mike Hartner was born in Miami in 1965. He’s traveled much of the continental United States. He has several years post secondary education, and experience teaching and tutoring young adults. Hartner has owned and run a computer firm for more than twenty-five years. He now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with his wife and child. They share the neighborhood and their son with his maternal grandparents.
Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2015 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
- CanLit Reading Bingo Card 2015
Posted Friday, 30 January, 2015 by jorielov in 15th Century, Action & Adventure Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), Canadian Literature, Cliffhanger Ending, Coming-Of Age, Elizabethan Era, England, Father-Daughter Relationships, High Seas Epic, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Indie Author, Kate Tilton's Book Bloggers, Kidnapping or Unexplained Disappearances, Nautical Fiction, Pirates and Swashbucklers, Spain, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Vulgarity in Literature, Young Adult Fiction
Posted Sunday, 18 January, 2015 by jorielov Larry Verstraete, Missing in Paradise, Rebelight Publishing Inc. 0 Comments
Acquired Book By: I am a regular tour hostess for blog tours via Chapter by Chapter, where I receive opportunities to host Cover Reveals & Author Guest Features on behalf of the Indie Publisher Month9Books. This is the first time I was offered to host a blog tour outside of Month9Books, featuring another Indie Publisher: Rebelight Publishing! I jumped at the chance to read this exciting novel for Middle Grade readers, as I am always seeking out light infused Children’s Lit which has a resounding story-line stitched together with a life lesson and/or a character who children can relate too as much as they can celebrate having found.
I received a complimentary copy of “Missing in Paradise” direct from the publisher Rebelight Publishing in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
A bit of a background on Rebelight Publishing:
Included with my copy of Missing in Paradise, I received a lovely letter from the Marketing Director who gave me a bit of insight on behalf of the publisher! In an effort to help my readers understand a bit more about this exciting new Indie Publisher, I am going to share a portion of the letter as it was written like a Press Release, giving me the ability to share the contents like I would on behalf of other publishers who include the same Press Sheets with their stories and non-fiction titles.
Rebelight is a new publisher committed to the promotion of literacy through producing high quality fiction for middle grade, young adult and new adult readers. We are celebrating the release of our first three books! Our company is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, a city of approximately 800,000 at the geographic center of North America. Our tagline: Crack the Spine. Blow your mind. And that’s exactly what we seek to do with every book.
Our mandate is to open doors to new and talented writers, and give established authors an opportunity to venture outside their genre.
I have had an inclination to seek out Canadian Lit for several years now, ever since I first learnt my local library couldn’t borrow from outside the United States! I could search for Canadian authors through WorldCat or I could continue the long process of seeking them out on my own accord through the variety of genres and works of literature I appreciate reading. One door that opened Canada up to me is by becoming a book blogger, as I have started to find Canadian Writers are amongst those authors who put their books into blog tours as much as publishers in Canada are seeking blog tour hosts who are in the United States or overseas. I appreciate their keen awareness that there are those of us down here who would be quite wicked happy to discover their stories, if only we could find a bridge that would give us a better insight into what is being published per annum.
It is my continuing hope that as time shifts forward, I can host more Canadian authors and works of literature on blog tours but outside of that focus, I want to start seeking out Canadian Lit through my public library (as some authors have their collective works housed in one of our stateside libraries which can be inter-library loaned) as much as seeking their titles through Indie bookshoppes at a later date. I fully support the Indies (as disclosed on “My Bookish Life“) and forevermore will seek out ways to be a book cheerleader for the publishers and the writers who give us such a refreshing new voice to seek out within the craft of story-telling! Read More
Posted Sunday, 18 January, 2015 by jorielov in Blog Tour Host, Brothers and Sisters, Canadian Literature, Chapter by Chapter Blog Tours, Childhood Friendship, Children's Literature, Juvenile Fiction, Literature for Boys, Middle Grade Novel, Modern Day, Siblings
