Category: Bits & Bobbles of Jorie

Non-Fiction Book Review | “The Full Tank Life: Fuel your dreams, ignite your destiny” by Ben Tankard Find out more about the girl behind the blog whilst seeing how this book inspired her to re-examine where she is on her life’s path.

Posted Sunday, 28 August, 2016 by jorielov Ben Tankard, FaithWords, Hachette Book Group Inc., The Full Tank Life 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I am a new reviewer for Hachette Books and their imprints, starting with FaithWords which is their INSPY (Inspirational Fiction & Non-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 wicked happy I can review for their imprints Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords & Center Street.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Full Tank Life” direct from the publisher FaithWords (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.

Why I felt reading The Full Tank Life would be a good idea:

I’m not the kind of girl who regularly seeks out ‘self-improvement’ non-fiction releases, as there are some of us who gravitate towards these kinds of books on a regular basis and then there are those of us (like me) who are quite selective in what they are looking towards finding inside them. When I first read the synopsis for The Full Tank Life, I was happily surprised by what Mr Tankard was eluding towards being revealled inside his inspiringly motivating guide towards self-actualising your own destiny.

One of the things I do not regularly share on Jorie Loves A Story is my personal life, as I have become in the habit of separating my personal life with my online life ever since I first started blogging. This doesn’t mean to say I’m not personally revealling certain bits of my life spilt into the book showcases and author interviews I’m featuring on my blog or in convos I’m happily engaging in on the twitterverse,.. it simply means that I found a balance between what I wanted to share on a public platform and what I wanted to keep private. Part of my choice to do this is because I knew one day I would become a published author, and I felt it was best to practice the duality of my reality early-on rather than wait til the day arrived and I was fully unprepared how to tackle being online in a world that craves insta-information on everything!

The reason I am bringing this to your attention, is because like most people in today’s socioeconomic uncertain world of stability and longevity of personal sustainability, my own path has taken it’s fair share of detours towards the realisation of my own personal life goals. Part of the reason I wanted to start my blog Jorie Loves A Story is to firmly take a full step forward into my future by starting to focus on the authors I enjoy reading whilst re-developing my own appreciation for literature. I was looking for a segue out of the stagnancy of where my hours were yielding back then, to where I was not exactly moving ‘towards’ where I wanted to be but I wasn’t exactly in the middle of a black hole either!

I have been a seeker all of my life, and one of the things I have sought the most is to find a way to carve out my own destiny towards realising my dreams. I have happily lived a non-traditional unconventional life by today’s standards (i.e. school, career, marriage, children, etc) wherein I’ve been blessed to re-focus on my developing my writer’s craft and sorting out what truly inspires me to create my own stories. In the background, I’ve taken the less travelled route to help my family during difficult times, including though illness and death.

The past three years I’ve been a book blogger haven’t quite been the easiest by half, but they have led to such an incredible girth of self-awareness and self-development, I can honestly say my blog started off being my saving grace through the tides of where life can take you before developing into a platform of where I can leave notes of gratitude or criticism to authors whose stories alight in my hands to read. I started off Jorie Loves A Story as a reader’s blog without realising all along it’s a writer’s blog full of the beautiful joy of serendipitous discoveries wherein the ‘writer’ behind the blog has sought enlightenment through the craft of stories but has become enlightened through the journey itself!

This month (August, 2016) marks my 3rd #blogbirthday where I launched Jorie Loves A Story *live!* a handful of months prior to joining the world of tweets and real-time conversations in November of 2016. As soon as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Day, 2016 I sensed this might be the year where I undertook a Renaissance on Jorie Loves A Story, where the reader embraces her writerly path and where the blog re-focuses it’s shift of purpose spilt between continuing the foundation of where it began but increasing it’s outreach to include secondary modes of expression and communicating the path a girl in process of realising her writerly dream can endeavour to step out of it’s original roots.

On that vein of thought, I’ve been in transitional flux on a personal level, where it’s one thing to believe in yourself and the path you’ve set out to walk but sometimes it’s absent of the particulars that tie together your present with your future. This is why I sought out reading The Full Tank Life because for three years I’ve been running Jorie Loves A Story on half a tank and would love to one day say I’ve accomplished the balance I was seeking whilst anchoured in the faith to understand the journey I had to take to realise it. All of what you have read and have seen on this blog has been a walk of faith and the future of where Jorie Loves A Story is moving next is wicked exciting but the girl behind the blog is patiently awaiting the hour where prayer and actuality coincide to manifest her path in the way she had endeavoured to see into fruition.

The Full Tank Life
Subtitle: Fuel your dreams, Ignite your destiny

Modern-day Renaissance man and star of Bravo's Thicker Than Water Ben Tankard offers powerful motivation and practical tools to empower readers to find their destiny and create an action plan to unlock it.

As a pastor, pilot, motivational speaker, bestselling Gospel/Jazz musician, and reality TV star, Tankard has a lot of experience with both success and failure. He has learned that our greatest opportunities often come from our greatest disappointments. Today, he is doing what he was born to do, and he knows it didn't happen by accident. Tankard encourages readers to examine seven key elements-Dreams, Environment, Subconscious, Time, Inspiration, Network, and You, sharing his life-tested secrets to help readers find their own way. Including fresh insights on familiar Bible passages, wisdom from Tankard's own setbacks, and laugh-out-loud stories, Tankard shows readers that they too can have a "full tank" life.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781455538294

on 30th August, 2016

Pages: 208

Published by: FaithWords (@FaithWords)
an imprint of Hachette Book Group, Inc. (@HachetteBooks) via Hachette Nashville

Formats Available: Hardcover, Audiobook & Ebook

Converse via: #INSPYbooks, #nonfiction, #motivationalbooks + #TheFullTankLife

About Ben Tankard

Ben Tankard Photo Credit: Ben-Jamin' Universal Music

BEN TANKARD is the godfather of Gospel/Jazz music and has sold over 4 million copies of his award-winning instrumental albums.

He and his family star in NBC/Bravo's Thicker Than Water--The Tankards, which was the network's highest rated freshman reality show with over 14 million viewers in its first season.

A true Renaissance man, he also serves as a motivational speaker for the NBA, designs a line of men's clothing, and pilots his own plane. Together with his wife Jewel, he pastors a growing church outside of Nashville, TN.

Photo Credit: Ben-Jamin' Universal Music

Posted Sunday, 28 August, 2016 by jorielov in Balance of Faith whilst Living, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Review (non-blog tour), FaithWords, Non-Fiction, Philosophy

Double-Showcase | Book Review w/ a Cover Reveal (for the sequel!) feat. the Moonfall Mayhem series by A.E. Decker!

Posted Thursday, 25 August, 2016 by jorielov (Illustrator) Cary Vandever, A.E. Decker, Moonfall Mayhem series, The Falling of the Moon, World Weaver Press 0 Comments

I love unexpected surprises, don’t you?

You can imagine then, my earnest surprise to have learnt the novel I was about to be featuring during my #FuellYourSciFi showcases leading up to #RRSciFiMonth this November has not only a *sequel!* but a lovely re-designed concept for it’s cover imagery! Remember when I said I would be resuming where I left off with my reviews showcasing *World Weaver Press*!? whilst announcing the upcoming September release for “Murder in the Generative Kitchen”?

As that was in July, I felt I would happily find World Weaver Presses stories alighting on my blog throughout the month – until of course – I learnt that despite my best intentions, circumventing (*extreme!*) lightning storms, my personal life & the ramifications of technical woes extending out of said lightning storms is not quite as easy as it would appear to be on the surface! My computer & ISP are driving me battier than bananas spoilt too soon before they can baked into a divinely tasting bread! You know how vexing that is, don’t you? You have a lovely batch of bananas right at the ready to whip into a hearty batch of banana bread, repleat with walnuts, shredded coconut and either dried fruit or chocolate pieces – only to find that your horrid humidic temperatures destroy any chance to bake it!

Ergo, sometimes blogging is like baking! You have to roll with the unexpected & happily look forward to the hours you can soak inside the stories! Even if your hours wick off the clock – remain calm – your time to duck into a ‘new’ author’s imagination is right round the corner! This has been my mantra this Summer, as I still grieved the loss of my equipment & hours from last Summer’s EPIC 90 days of lightning which wasn’t something I was keen on repeating! I’ve managed to keep online more regularly this year due to a new ISP but sometimes, even your ISP can become flummoxed by surges, power outages & a quirky habit of your connectivity *not responding* to their tech support interference! Laughs. There’s a lesson in this, you know! Sometimes you have to find more patience than you feel!

This isn’t the ‘unexpected surprise’ I am hinting towards, as being the kind I ‘appreciate’ and ‘love’ to find alight in my life! No, the kind of surprise I’m referring too – is a sequel is about to debut continuing a story you’ve looked forward to reading! The fact the cover has been re-designed in order to cross-coordinate with the sequel is even sweeter! The only thing I truly miss about the old cover is this lovely bat-cat (Moony) on the back cover! The expression on that cat was quite spectacular! Although, I suppose I should confess – I *loved!* the purpleness of the cover’s colour, too!

Notation on Cover Art: The tree stood out to me as it reminded me of the trees in the Fantasy films I grew up watching as a child! Think along the lines of “The Neverending Story” (1984) or the television version of “Babes in Toyland” (1986) starring Drew Barrymore & Richard Mulligan! Yet it’s the expression on (Rags-n-Bones) face that truly held my attention! That is seriously speaking volumes towards what could lie behind this cover in regards to the story and the suspense of something brewing!

#PubDay is 25th October, 2016 | Cross-Releasing in Trade Paperback & Ebook!

ISBN: 978-0-9977888-3-9 | Page Count: 337

Cover Art Designer: Cary Vandever | Twitter

Meddlers of Moonshine on World Weaver Press

Something is rotten in the town of Widget, and Rags-n-Bones knows it’s all his fault. Ever since he snitched that avocado from Miss Ascot’s pack, things have been going wrong. Armed with a handful of memories he never realized he had, Rags-n-Bones searches for a way to put right whatever he did to Widget in the past. If only he knew what it was! Unfortunately, the only person who seems to have answers is a half-mad youth that only Rags can see.

Widget is also suffering from a ghost infestation that has the townsfolk almost as spooked of outsiders as they are of actual spooks. While Rags-n-Bones seeks answers in the past, Ascot offers the town leaders her service as an exorcist, only to be handed an ultimatum: banish the ghosts or be banished herself!

Who’s meddling with Widget? To catch the culprit, Ascot and Rags-n-Bones must match wits with a shifty sorcerer, a prissy ex-governess, and a troublingly attractive captain before the town consigns itself to the graveyard of history.

If you ask me, there is more than meets the eye in this series!

This is one of the beautiful new promo badges created with an excerpt of the story!

Isn’t it lovely how you can see the secondary characters & get a vibe for the context?

Ah! Now, then, what did Jorie think about the 1st book in the Moonfall Mahem series?!

Posted Thursday, 25 August, 2016 by jorielov in #JorieLovesIndies, Animals in Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover Reveal, Book Spotlight, Cats and Kittens, Coming-Of Age, Fairy Tale Fiction, Familiars, Fantasy Fiction, Father-Daughter Relationships, Folklore, Folklore and Mythology, Genre-bender, Ghost Story, Gothic Literature, Indie Author, Speculative Fiction, Supernatural Creatures & Beings, Supernatural Fiction, Teenage Relationships & Friendships, Upper YA Fiction, Vampires, Vulgarity in Literature, World Weaver Press, YA Fantasy, Young Adult Fiction

Blog Book Tour | “The Dark Lady’s Mask” by Mary Sharratt

Posted Wednesday, 24 August, 2016 by jorielov Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Mary Sharratt, The Dark Lady's Mask 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 Dark Lady’s Mask” direct from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Why I wanted to read this novel about William Shakespeare:

Ahead of sharing my love of Shakespeare, I am celebrating the return of being able to read a novel of Mary Sharratt for review on Jorie Loves A Story! Whilst I was a 1st Year Book Blogger (observed my 3rd blog birthday earlier this month on the 6th of August), I had the pleasure of joy reading Illuminations: {A novel of Hildegard von Bingen} as my debut review for Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in November, 2013! The novel introduced me to an enriched version of reading biographies – an introduction that would carry me forward into the wonderful world of what I refer to as ‘Biographical Historical Fiction’; a mainstay of my reading queues! As routed through this category of interest!

From that foundation, I started to seek out traditional biographies and memoirs, under the new vein of interest called ‘Creative Non-Fiction’ where the stories are threaded through an emotional contextual core of narrative. For you see, if I hadn’t first read Illuminations all the lovelies I’ve been discovering since might not have alighted in my hands to read. Mary Sharratt truly opened my mind and eyes to how a story could be told whilst peering back into the historical past through a living history of a person who once lived. Her style of the craft is quite acutely realistic for the time periods she’s exploring; she has a conviction of setting with a lifeblood of drawing characters out of the wells of history to give us a resounding portrait of ‘who once lived’ can live once again in our own imaginations.

You see, I fell in love with reading Shakespeare when I was fourteen; prior to that year, (as a freshman in high school) I knew of the Bard far more than I had read his works. I was smitten by the idea of what a Shakespearean play would contain but I had not started reading his works until it became required reading. Ironic, no? Of those readings (Romeo & Juliet & Julius Caesar), it was my readings of Caesar that staid with me the most! I liked the tenacity of the piece and the guttingly humanistic emotional tides ebbing in and out of the realisation of how the conspirators befell a leader. There was such a lot of dramatic eclipse in that back-story, I daresay, right then and there, I should have realised how much I would come to appreciate reading Historical Fiction! If only hindsight were available,..

I was gifted a portable collection of Shakespeare’s works for my four and twenty birthday, a fact that isn’t lost on me now that I’m in the latter years of my twentytens; of which selections of plausible readings are listed on my own Classics Club List where they lie in wait for me to soak inside their stories. It isn’t that I have balked at reading more Shakespeare, it’s the mere fact I simply haven’t felt in ‘the mood’ to re-enter his works. There are moments where I distinctively feel literature is based on our moods; this clearly is one of them! Another example would be my distance from the ghost stories of Heather Graham; for me, those require a certain atmosphere to enjoy (i.e. thunderstorms).

As so much has become disputed and/or proved in regards to Shakespeare’s legacy and identity, I felt it was proper time to delve into a portion of the history surrounding him I haven’t yet learnt of first-hand. This is where reading Biographical HistFic is especially fun for me! I get to tuck inside the research and the visionary plausibilities of where known fact and supposition reside to paint an image of ‘what could have been’ and very much could honestly be the living testament of a person who lived so very long ago!

The Dark Lady's Mask

Shakespeare in Love meets Shakespeare’s Sister in this novel of England’s first professional woman poet and her collaboration and love affair with William Shakespeare.

London, 1593. Aemilia Bassano Lanier is beautiful and accomplished, but her societal conformity ends there. She frequently cross-dresses to escape her loveless marriage and to gain freedoms only men enjoy, but a chance encounter with a ragged, little-known poet named Shakespeare changes everything.

Aemilia grabs at the chance to pursue her long-held dream of writing and the two outsiders strike up a literary bargain. They leave plague-ridden London for Italy, where they begin secretly writing comedies together and where Will falls in love with the beautiful country — and with Aemilia, his Dark Lady. Their Italian idyll, though, cannot last and their collaborative affair comes to a devastating end. Will gains fame and fortune for their plays back in London and years later publishes the sonnets mocking his former muse. Not one to stand by in humiliation, Aemilia takes up her own pen in her defense and in defense of all women.

The Dark Lady’s Mask gives voice to a real Renaissance woman in every sense of the word.

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9780544300767

on 19th April, 2016

Pages: 416

Published By: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (@HMHCo)

Converse via: #TheDarkLadysMask, #Shakespeare + #HistFic
Available Formats: Hardcover, Trade Paperback & Ebook

Read about Aemilia Bassano Lanier via Poetry Foundation

Read Ms Sharratt’s blog post about The Dark Lady’s Mask via Feminism & Religion

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

2016 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Posted Wednesday, 24 August, 2016 by jorielov in 16th Century, Aemilia Bassano Lanier, Biographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, British Literature, Classical Literature, England, Historical Fiction, Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, Historical Mystery, Historical Romance, Inspired By Author OR Book, Inspired by Stories, William Shakespeare

Book Review | #whoaretheclan | “Ties of Power” (Book No.2 of the Trade Pact Universe) by Julie E. Czerneda #FuellYourSciFi with Jorie!

Posted Monday, 22 August, 2016 by jorielov DAW Books, Julie E. Czerneda, Penguin Group (USA), The Clan Chronicles, The Trade Pact Universe, Ties of Power 0 Comments

Acquired Book By: I was invited to participate in Julie E. Czerneda’s #futurespasttour wherein I am continuing my readings of The Clan Chronicles where I left off last November. I participated in the #timeandstarstour on behalf of the seventh volume of The Clan Chronicles ‘This Gulf of Time and Stars’. I reached out to the author to sort out a way to read her entire series spilt between two trilogies: Stratification (the prequel) and The Trade Pact (inaugural trilogy) which launched the series as a whole. She offered to have DAW Books send me the series in paperback editions which I was blessed to receive and would have finished reading if I had hadn’t taken ill shortly after I read “A Thousand Words for Stranger”. Due to personal reasons between the end of 2015 and the start of 2016, I was not able to continue my readings until now. I have spent a lot of hours contemplating what ‘comes next’.

This year, I reached out to her publicist at DAW (at the author’s suggestion) to receive “The Gate to Futures Past” to conclude the scope of the series ahead of the final novel. I spoke to Ms Czerneda about completing my readings of her beautifully conceived hard sci-fi series by releasing my reviews of the books in graduated succession during the #futurespasttour; she agreed it would be a great way to celebrate. Therefore, ‘Ties of Power’ kicks off my showcases on Monday, 22nd of August, followed by ‘To Trade the Stars’ on Thursday, 25th August finishing ‘the Trade Pact Universe’ trilogy. I am anchouring the Reunification reviews together on 1st & 2nd of September.

I received a complimentary copy of ‘Ties of Power’ the first novel of original trilogy better known as The Trade Pact Universe. I was not obliged to post a review or share my impressions or opinions on behalf of these stories. I am posting my thoughts for my own edification and to help encourage new readers to meet the characters Czerneda created especially if like me, they are discovering The Clan Chronicles for the first time!

On re-entry into The Clan Chronicles:

As I disclosed on my review of Reap the Wild Wind this is my first reading of the works by Julie E. Czerneda. This is my continuing journey deep into the heart of The Clan Chronicles whilst conversing on Twitter via the tag #whoaretheclan. Occasionally alternating with #TheClanChronicles and #futurespasttour.

As hinted about a moment ago whilst explaining how I came to read The Clan Chronicles – there is a nine month gap between when I last read the series and today. I explained a lot of what was going on at the close of [2015] and the beginning of [2016] many moons ago when I released my post called: Two Years, Two Cats. It seriously took me months to restore the level of joy I had reading and sharing my reading life after those moments where life had started to overwhelm me to the brink where between February and April I was contemplating if I even wanted to continue blogging. Two (epic) migraines in the Spring nearly convinced me to pull the plug, but as this journey of mine has been a walk of faith since it’s conception, I knew in my heart, all would right itself eventually. I simply had had a difficult patch of hours I needed to walk through before the light and joy would return.

Hence why I never truly felt the moment had returnt to where I could dissolve myself back inside the world of the Clan in such a way as to fully attune myself into the narrative arc left behind to discover by Czerneda! Her series has never quite left me either – there is something about this series, as you may have already threaded through my previous reviews and know what I’m going to say – this series becomes a part of you. It transforms how you look at what a hard sci-fi series can give but it’s more than that – these characters are so wholly inherent of their own sentient selves, you find a gateway into their world so instinctively true to who they are and how they live their lives.

It’s been a long journey for me to find favour again with stories and to find myself caught up inside the giddiness of reading a story whose foundation of setting, time and place has been able to fuse into my imagination without any of the woes of the year to inflict a pause of reflection. I’m in a much better mindset now to resume where I’ve left off with the Clan and I am quite excited about re-entering this world on the fringes of the eighth release! Although, part of me is recognising this truly is a sad moment in some regards – there are ONLY nine novels total in The Clan Chronicles! I ought to take stock in handkerchiefs and tissue boxes!

As I start to re-read the ending bits of A Thousand Words for Stranger, ahead of moving into Ties of Power, I am taking a moment to share with you what truly was my turning point in understanding the Trade Pact Universe as I quite literally did leave my heart on Cersi! I felt so entwined with Cersi, when I first read A Thousand Words for Stranger I felt ripped away from Cersi in such a strong way that I grieved it’s loss for nearly the entire length of the novel!

A lightbulb went off in my mind – sometimes when I’m reading a book series, I pick up on subtle differences, little nuances if you will, alerting me there is something not quite as it once were earlier in the sequences. In Chapter 8 I recognised what is missing from the Clan – their emotional reactions! Each time they would telepathically speak to each other, each word, phrase or sentence had a precept of feeling wherein you knew instantly their emotional and mind centre point. Traditionally throughout Stratification the two were adjoined, moving fluidly as if of one thought, one emotion. The Clan in the Trade Pact universe has stepped away from this tradition! That’s why I felt a bit disconnected from them (over and beyond the other reasons!) as they’ve re-identified not with their Clan language and ways, but with ComSpeak! The language of the interstellar travellers of whom they’ve become! They do technically at times share their emotional state but it’s far more reserved. I would not consider them transparent now, as Aryl and Enris would be quite gobsmacked by how vague and cloaked their Clan became in such a short lifespan of time. On the other hand, the Clan views lifespans a bit differently – perhaps it’s too far apart from them to register as a ‘short change’ but rather expelled over too long of a period to bother them?

Sira understands Morgan better than he understands himself which would be easy to do as he’s not a bloke of transparency. Morgan is a bit burnt out and jaded by the choices he’s made as a spacer who works the trades; his ship was his home, a place where he could rule his own destiny. When he had the happenstance meeting with Sira on Auord it set in motion a series of events that would tie the two together. Not surprisingly it also launched them into a duo whose trust for each other would slowly start to drop anchour. Neither one trusted easily, but there are certain things that happen between people who share close quarters; a ship in their world is not any different than a ship in ours. It gives you a measure of space to stay sane but an intimacy that is built on friendship and curiosity.

Oh, my! Morgan’s fate is entwined with Enris or rather, is it the other way round? Time is temporal and this universe asks questions of itself about the order in which things are known or changed. Enris might have come first but Morgan and Sira’s relationship are playing out truth to the nail in line with Aryl’s with Enris. What a beautiful scope of their lineage, Ms Czerneda! Great-grands, yes, indeed share a special connection!

-quoted from my review of A Thousand Words for Stranger

Ties of Power
Subtitle: The Trade Pact Universe #2

Synopsis on the Back Cover:

Self-Exile

became Sira's only choice when she discovered how deeply she'd been betrayed by the leaders of her people. Rather than allow them to continue to use her for their own ruthless purposes, Sira, the most powerful being ever born to the alien race known as the Clan, fled with the human empath, Jason Morgan.

Now, living on a distant world in an environment over which she has control, Sira is striving to carve out a new life for herself. But there are those determined to take from her what she will not willingly give, and when she and Jason fall victim to an unforeseen attack, it sets in motion a series of events which will see Jason searching the starways on a mission of vengeance, and Sira leagued with the Drapsk, a little understood race which is extremely adept at trading. For the Drapsk see in Sira a power which could regain for them something which has long been lost. And they will do anything to protect this woman who is their greatest hope for the future....

Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

Find on Book Browse

ISBN: 9780886778507

Series: Trade Pact Universe

Also in this series: A Thousand Words for Stranger, To Trade the Stars

on 8th October, 1999

Pages: 496

Published By: DAW Books (@DAWBooks)
an imprint of Penguin Group USA

Cover Artist: Luis Royo | Site | Twitter | Facebook

The Clan Chronicles:

Reap the Wild Wind (Stratification trilogy, No.1)
Riders of the Storm (Stratification trilogy, No.2)
Rift in the Sky (Stratification trilogy, No.3)
A Thousand Words for Stranger (Trade Pact Universe, No.1)
Ties of Power (Trade Pact Universe, No.2)
To Trade the Stars (Trade Pact Universe, No.3)
This Gulf of Time and Stars (Reunification, No.1)
The Gate to Futures Past (Reunification, No.2)

Available Formats: Hardcover, Paperback and Ebook

About Julie E. Czerneda

Julie E. Czerneda Photo Credit: Roger Czerneda Photography

Since 1997, Canadian author/editor Julie E. Czerneda has shared her love and curiosity about living things through her science fiction, writing about shapechanging semi-immortals, terraformed worlds, salmon researchers, and the perils of power. Her fourteenth novel from DAW Books was her debut fantasy, A Turn of Light, winner of the 2014 Aurora Award for Best English Novel, and now Book One of her Night`s Edge series.

She began her first fantasy series: Night’s Edge with A Turn of Light, winner of the 2014 Aurora Award for Best English Novel. A Play of Shadow followed, winning the 2015 Aurora. While there’ll be more fantasy, Julie’s back in science fiction to complete her Clan Chronicles series. Reunification #1: This Gulf of Time and Stars, came out in 2015. #2: The Gate to Futures Past released September, 2016. Volume #3: To Guard Against the Dark, follows October 2017.

An award-winning editor as well, Julie’s edited/co-edited sixteen anthologies of SF/F, including the Aurora winning Space Inc. and Under Cover of Darkness. Her most recent anthology is the 2017 Nebula Award Showcase, published May 2017, a singular honour.

Next out will be an anthology of original stories set in her Clan Chronicles series: Tales from Plexis, out in 2018. When not jumping between wonderful blogs, Julie’s at work on something very special: her highly anticipated new Esen novel, Search Image (Fall 2018).

Biography updated November 2017
Photo Credit: Roger Czerneda Photography

Posted Monday, 22 August, 2016 by jorielov in #FuellYourSciFi, Bits & Bobbles of Jorie, Blog Tour Host, Book Cover | Notation on Design, Book Cover | Original Illustration & Design, Book Review (non-blog tour), Canadian Literature, Compassion & Acceptance of Differences, Death, Sorrow, and Loss, Equality In Literature, Hard Science Fiction, Jorie Loves A Story Cuppa Book Love Awards, Mother-Daughter Relationships, Science Fantasy, Science Fiction, Space Opera

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.

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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