Source: Publisher via The Write Reads

#BookSpotlight for #TheWriteReads | A wicked new Middle Grade novel: “Terra Electrica” (The Guardians of the North, Book One) by Antonia Maxwell

Posted Sunday, 27 October, 2024 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Stories in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comHallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I apologise I am a bit behind with my blog this week – as I had a wreck of a week in some respects as exhaustion took over before the mid-point. I also didn’t have my usual schedule of hours and as I was filling in for different people on some of my shifts and extending my shifts on multiple days, you could say the week got the better of me and my blog suffered a bit as a result as I fell off my schedule for sharing posts – both for The Write Reads and for Spooktastic Reads.

I was hoping my copy of “Terra Electrica” was going to arrive by Post, as I was expecting a review copy by mail – however, it never arrived and thereby, I fetched the ebook copy which was given to members of the blog tour as I wanted to sample the story in order to write a spotlight on its behalf. What really drew me into wanting to read this novel was the fact it was written for the Middle Grade audience, focuses on the Environment and has a very convicting premise which I felt was a good starting point for IRL discussions with children about the state of our Environmental issues and the concerns we all have for the health of the planet and what we can actively do to help even as everyday citizens.

I’ve been interested in the ecological health of our environs since I was a young girl. The biggest impact on me as a child was the film “Medicine Man”. And, a visiting Environmentalist in the fifth grade who first opened my eyes to the global impact of the environment and how globally we’re all in this together. This was long before they started calling it Climate Change and the effects of humans on the interworking environments around the world and how our choices in energy and consumption of energy is costing a heavy price on our air and the quality of life. And, of course it is much more complicated than that, too, and involves a lot more than just energy – but I didn’t want to get into everything all at once and decided to just focus on mentioning energy which is one of the top issues we have right now.

Except to say, for the polar ice caps on the brink of melting has been a mainstay of concern since I was growing up, too. The sea levels rising as a result of a major melt has been a huge concern especially for certain states which sit below sea level right now as it were and how that impact of erasure would have on the United States as a whole as there would be missing parts of our country once the sea rises to the point where parts of the land would outright disappear beneath the new levels of the sea. It gives you pause to think about the wider issues rises in sea levels would have on a global scale as much as what would happen if all the ice melts? What other imbalances and changes would that cause globally as well? 

Thereby whenever I can find an Environmental focused story – especially in MG or YA literature, I am definitely the reader who is excited about that kind of story. Therefore, someday I do hope to have a copy of this novel to read but until then, I am happily spotlighting it to help promote the book and maybe encourage others to seek it out too!

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

#BookSpotlight for #TheWriteReads | A wicked new Middle Grade novel: “Terra Electrica” (The Guardians of the North, Book One) by Antonia MaxwellTerra Electrica
Subtitle: The Guardians of the North : Book One
by Antonia Maxwell
Source: Publisher via The Write Reads

This is the first novel in an action-packed dystopian adventure series set in the near-future post-melt Arctic.

The last ice cap has melted, and the world is on the brink of collapse. A deadly force—Terra Electrica—has been unleashed. It feeds on electricity. It is infecting civilization.

In this chaotic, rapidly changing reality, 12-year-old Mani has lost her family and community to the Terra Electrica. Armed only with some ancestral wisdom and a powerful, ancient wooden mask she was never meant to inherit so soon, she suddenly finds herself responsible for the fate of the world.

Can Mani piece everything together and harness her newfound powers in time to save humanity?

Genres: Children's Literature, Middle Grade



Places to find the book:

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1915584113

Published by Neem Tree Publishing

on 4th July, 2024

Format: epub | PDF editon

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Published by: Neem Tree Press | Follow via Insta (@neemtreepress)
an imprint of Unbound Publishing

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #MGLit, #MiddleGrade
as well as #TheWriteReads & #TerraElectrica

About Antonia Maxwell

Antonia Maxwell

Antonia Maxwell is a writer and editor based in North Essex and Cambridge, UK. With a degree in Modern Languages and a long-standing career as a book editor, she has a lifelong curiosity for language and words, and a growing fascination in the power of story – the way it shapes our lives and frames our experience.

Read More

Divider

Posted Sunday, 27 October, 2024 by jorielov in #TheWriteReads, Blog Tour Host, Cli-Fi, Climate Change, Dystopian, Environmental Conscience, Environmental Science, Science Fiction

Welcome to #TheWriteReads blog tour | showcasing “Flightless Falcon” by James Charles Smith

Posted Wednesday, 2 October, 2024 by jorielov , , 0 Comments

Book Review banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: I started hosting blog tours with The Write Reads in 2020 and prior to hosting with Dave (who runs the tours and has built an incredible community of the socially bookish behind it) I was following their feeds via Twitter. I took an unexpected hiatus from hosting their tours until this Summer, 2024 wherein I reconnected with Dave and started to get back into the tours as they were available to join.  I love finding new Independent publishers as much as I love finding new niches of fiction and Non-Fiction alike in which to absorb a story or style of narrative I haven’t yet come across and through hosting for The Write Reads I am finding my journey of discovery is regularly heightened to travel into new spheres of where story can take us all.

I received a complimentary copy of “Flightless Falcon” from the publisher Brown Books in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comHallo, Hallo dear hearts!

I will admit, I almost took a pass on reading Flightless Falcon – though for a reason you might not be aware of – for a while, here I refer to ‘years’, I’ve taken a step back from reading war dramas and/or any story fiction or otherwise that is set within a timeline of war. I used to consume a lot of Historical Fiction set during the world wars and I know I burnt out on reading them. There were a few which hit quite hard emotionally and psychologically and I knew for my own sanity, I just needed to step away from them. And, of course, then, in (2018) another novel perked my interest to read which was writ differently than others I had come across and I read it – though I had a feeling I’d have to take another break from stories of war as I began it.

The novel I am referring to is The Fourteenth of September which was published by She Writes Press – a publisher I have the tendency to be drawn to read more times than not. You can read my review and find out my thoughts on behalf of that novel, too. It takes place during the Vietnam War era as well. What drew my eye into accepting to re-open this door on the Vietnam War era and for stories set around war was the opportunity to view that timeline of our American History through a different portal and through an alternative route one man took during a tumultuous period of our lived history. I personally love Autobiographical Fiction, and I love being on the open road as a traveller – and that in part, influenced my choice to read this novel. There is something to be said for travelling by road and for getting out in the open country – seeing America outside of the larger cities and just moving town by town and city by city – having conversations with the people you meet along the way and seeing different slices of life as you travel, too.

I had a feeling this novel was going to be introspective as it was going to be emotionally compelling – and just by the statistics you are presented when you first open the pages to read it – you are brought back to the harrowing realities of that era and time in our history. Somehow, I still find myself compelled to read these kinds of stories, but I am seeking out different ones to read than I used too, and I feel I am a better read for those choices I am making as I carve out my own path into read the stories which talk about war through different perspectives and experiences.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Welcome to #TheWriteReads blog tour | showcasing “Flightless Falcon” by James Charles SmithFlightless Falcon
Source: Publisher via The Write Reads

In this Vietnam-era coming of age novel, a young man abandons military life and becomes an eyewitness to America’s deep divisions over the war. Adrift and alone in 1969 America, a young man takes to the road.

When Sam Roberts resigns from the Air Force Academy, his father is furious. His mother is understanding but offers little support. All Sam knows is he doesn’t believe in the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War and he can’t be part of it any longer.

Cut loose from a life he once believed in and the woman he once loved, Sam hitchhikes across the country in search of himself. As a passenger in the countless cars who stop to offer rides, he encounters people from all walks of life: Hispanic youths on their way to a quinceañera, retired WWII veterans with surprisingly different perspectives on the war, even a hippie who just left the military himself. His journey is an eye-opening tour through the polarized politics of 1960s America, a transporting exchange of ideas that sends Sam on his way to becoming the man he’s meant to be.

Genres: Autobiographical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Introspective Literary Fiction



Places to find the book:

Format: Paperback Edition

Published by: Brown Books

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #ComingOfAge
as well as #TheWriteReads & #FlightlessFalcon

Read More

Divider

Posted Wednesday, 2 October, 2024 by jorielov in #TheWriteReads, 20th Century, Autobiographical Fiction & Non-Fiction, Blog Tour Host, Historical Fiction, History, Indie Author, The Sixties, The Vietnam War, Vignettes of Real Life

A #PubDay #BookSpotlight for #TheWriteReads | sharing my excitement for a lovely new novel “Looking for Lucie” by Amanda Addison

Posted Tuesday, 1 October, 2024 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Stories in the Spotlight banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comHallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Every so often a story comes across my desk so to speak which has such a captivating premise which IMMEDIATELY encourages me to read it. This was the kind of reaction I had with Looking for Lucie – as soon as I read about the heart of the story – where we are centred on Lucie who’s choosing to answer the question her family isn’t willing to give her themselves: sorting out her heritage and her cultural identity by tracing her parentage via DNA testing. I am sure this will appeal to a lot of readers who might be uncertain about their own cultural heritage or if their biological data isn’t known as it is with Lucie.

I felt this would strike a chord with children whose parents might have sought non-traditional routes of parenting – such as through donor sperm or egg programs especially if they were choosing to go the route of IVF. Sometimes in those instances not a lot is known about the person who donated nor any other specific data about their person or their heritage. Usually, information is limited in scope and might only refer to medical data, if anything at all. I also felt this story might be a good fit for children who are adopted and might not be raised to know their birth family until they are much older as some adoptive families do not readily share information as their growing up. I am of the mindset children of all ages deserve to know their cultural and religious heritage – especially if they are adopted. Those connections need to be maintained and recognised as each person has the right to know their own identity and where they came from – even if they are living in a different home and with a different family.

For those reasons and due how the story was presented through the synopsis – I felt an immediate desire to read this lovely novel. Perhaps you’ll find a reason it appeals to you as well. For now, let’s take a small glimpse into how the story is set-up in the beginning and why I am wicked happy I discovered this novel the year I re-generated #MyYASummer! As part of that was to seek out new voices in YA and to find new stories I might not have found previously. This definitely was the highlight for me to find as Summer drew to a close this year.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

A #PubDay #BookSpotlight for #TheWriteReads | sharing my excitement for a lovely new novel “Looking for Lucie” by Amanda AddisonLooking for Lucie
Subtitle: What do you do when your entire existence is a question with no answer? You do a DNA test.
by Amanda Addison
Source: Publisher via The Write Reads

Looking for Lucie is a contemporary YA novel that explores identity, self-discovery, and newfound friendship as an 18-year-old girl sets out to uncover her ethnic heritage and family history.

"Where are you really from?"

It's a question every brown girl in a white-washed town is familiar with, and one that Lucie has never been able to answer. All she knows is that her mother is white, she's never met her father, and she looks nothing like the rest of her family. She can't even talk about it because everyone says it shouldn't matter!

Well, it matters to Lucie and-with her new friend Nav, who knows exactly who he is-she's determined to find some answers.

What do you do when your entire existence is a question with no answer?

You do a DNA test.

Genres: Young Adult Fiction, YA Contemporary



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 978-1911107682

Published by Neem Tree Publishing

on 1st October, 2024

Format: epub | PDF editon

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Published by: Neem Tree Press | Follow via Insta (@neemtreepress)
an imprint of Unbound Publishing

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #ContemporaryYA, #YALit, #YoungAdult,
as well as #TheWriteReads & #LookingForLucie

Read More

Divider

Posted Tuesday, 1 October, 2024 by jorielov in #TheWriteReads, 21st Century, Blog Tour Host, Coming-Of Age, Post-911 (11th September 2001), Young Adult Fiction

Happily hosting #TheWriteReads blog tour | showcasing “The Vanitas” (& Other Tales of Art and Obsession) by Jake Kendall

Posted Sunday, 29 September, 2024 by jorielov , , , 0 Comments

Book Review banner created by Jorie in Canva.

Acquired Book By: I started hosting blog tours with The Write Reads in 2020 and prior to hosting with Dave (who runs the tours and has built an incredible community of the socially bookish behind it) I was following their feeds via Twitter. I took an unexpected hiatus from hosting their tours until this Summer, 2024 wherein I reconnected with Dave and started to get back into the tours as they were available to join. This marks my first blog tour with The Write Reads this year and I hope it will be the first of many yet to come before the year closes, too. I love finding new Independent publishers as much as I love finding new niches of fiction and Non-Fiction alike in which to absorb a story or style of narrative I haven’t yet come across and through hosting for The Write Reads I am finding my journey of discovery is regularly heightened to travel into new spheres of where story can take us all.

I received a complimentary copy of “The Vanitas” from the publisher Neem Tree Press in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.comHallo, Hallo dear hearts!

Art and Art History have been mutual passions and interests of mine for quite a long time throughout my life. I used to study art as a child and as I grew into an adult, art started to fall by the wayside. It never lost its glow of joy in me but the hours I could devout to learning it and cultivating my own style within the mediums of interest waned a bit and that was one reason I developed my passion for photography a bit faster than (traditional) formats of art. One day I’d love to re-explore art in tangible mediums of joy but for now, photography makes me happy.

On this note, I have been curious about understanding the different styles of Classical Art and what drew the classical artists to create their styles of art in general. I studied a bit of this in school but being it was high school and not college, I can’t say they went into a lot of depth of detail about any of it but just scratched the surface of it for the casual reader. What drew me into wanting to read this book was the creative way Kendall approached writing it and how he encouraged all of us to peer back into History and seek out a better understanding of both art and the inspiration behind the art itself.

I love learning new things but with art, what is dynamic about the learning curve is how it is interpreted and understood by the eye of the beholder looking at the art directly. Art changes perspective and understanding each time one of us glimpses it and thereby, art itself expands and contacts its own unique version of itself continuously per each new person who awakens a keen interest to pursue it.

This marks my first journey into reading selections of interest by Neem Tree Press – as they are a new publisher for me to read and discover, too. It is a lovely segue this end of Summer to read something outside my regular choices within literature and to dive into a topical exploration of something I had a marked interest in seeking out when I was younger. It is lovely how those interests and passions can come back to us lateron and when we’re not expecting them to re-arrive in our lives, too. 

Brew yourself a cuppa and enjoy reading my thoughts on this lovely collection of stories.

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Happily hosting #TheWriteReads blog tour | showcasing “The Vanitas” (& Other Tales of Art and Obsession) by Jake KendallThe Vanitas
Subtitle: And Other Tales of Art and Obsession
by Jake Kendall
Source: Publisher via The Write Reads

Spanning three hundred years of art history, The Vanitas & Other Tales of Art and Obsession tells the stories of those with an insatiable hunger for creation – those who may sacrifice friendships, careers, romance, and even their own happiness in pursuit of a vision.

Weaving art styles such as Cubism, Surrealism, and the Baroque into his prose, Jake Kendall has crafted a vivid and inventive collection. Each story is complemented by a black and white illustration, drawing out the visually evocative nature of the writing and offering readers a unique artistic delight.

Genres: Non-Fiction, Art & Art History



Places to find the book:

Borrow from a Public Library

Add to LibraryThing

ISBN: 9781911107019

on 24th September, 2024

Format: Paperback Edition

Pages: 272

Published by: Neem Tree Press | Follow via Insta (@neemtreepress)
an imprint of Unbound Publishing

Fun Stuff for Your Blog via pureimaginationblog.com

Available Formats: Paperback and Ebook

Converse via: #ArtHistory, #ArtHistoryFiction, #JakeKendall
as well as #TheWriteReads & #TheVanitas

About Jake Kendall

Jake Kendall was born in Oxford and studied an MSc in Creative Writing with the University of Edinburgh. He takes inspiration from the visual arts, a theme that formed his debut collection. The Vanitas & Other Tales of Art and Obsession (Neem Tree Press) refracts contemporary issues and anxieties through timeless imagery and artistic movements. Jake lives and works in Edinburgh and spends his free time visiting bookshops, exhibitions, theatre, and independent cinemas.

Read More

Divider

Posted Sunday, 29 September, 2024 by jorielov in #TheWriteReads, Art, Art History, Blog Tour Host, Non-Fiction