Puzzlebook: 104 Puzzle Quizzes / The Grabarchuk Family - Book review

Latest from the stable of Grabarchuk Puzzle Quizzes comes Puzzlebook: 104 Puzzle Quizzes (Grabarchuk Puzzles; ASIN: B0093O7ZBQ), fifth and final ebook in the top-rated puzzle series. As colorful and interactive as ever, the puzzles that make up this book are all as we have come to expect them – unique creations of the Grabarchuk Family enterprise. Each puzzle is new and exciting, making the collection a worthwhile purchase for any family or individual that is keen on gaming. The variety of puzzles is once again stunning, ranging through visual, logic, spatial, counting, geometry, matchstick, coins, searching and more. Whatever type of puzzle you’ve established as your personal favourite, you’ll be likely to find it here.

Once again, the puzzles are all arranged from easy to hard, and, with their level being clearly marked in each instance, you should be able to find your way around this collection with the greatest of ease. Created in full color, even on the darkest and gloomiest of days, simply spending some time on viewing this eye candy should put the glummest of souls in a more enlightened mood. A visual treat and a mental adventure―what more could any enterprising individual who has a little time on their hands require?

In addition to the fun element enticing the reader in, a primary aim of these books is also educational, so that, if you are a teacher with time to spare at the end of a class, especially one in Mathematical Literacy, you would be well advised to consider acquiring at least a few on which your learners can be encouraged to focus their interest for the few minutes left. They could even be offered as a reward for those who finish their lessons early – what a positive inducement to knuckle down and work hard, so that you can indulge in a fun activity that should serve as ample stimulation for even the nimblest of thinkers!

Personally, I love to take a break from my desk job every now and again to do just one or two of the puzzles on my PC―it’s so handy just being able to click into a puzzle or two while remaining seated and able to get back to work immediately afterwards again. At least that way, I don’t have to develop a guilty conscience, realising that the inspiration that doing these puzzles arises in one can the very next moment be ploughed straight back into even more creative work! 

Purrsnikitty / Kathy Brodsky; Illustrator: Cameron Bennett - Book Review

As a cat lover, I could not help but be highly amused by the antics of the precocious and self-indulgent feline whose adventures fill the pages of this delightful, oh-so-true-to-life picture book. A rhyming story, Purrsnikitty (Helpingwords; ISBN-13: 978-0-578-05059-1: ISBN-10: 0-578-05059-5) tells of a cat who is taken home from an animal shelter by a loving family, who absolutely dote on her. But trouble comes in the form of another four-legged interloper—a dog! The reaction is as predictable as it is amusing: “Another pet! What’s wrong with them? / A dog! Why not a mouse?” The answer to that question is, of course, self-explanatory, especially in the light of the fact that, only a few pages earlier, the narrator of this feline tale has described how “Sometimes I like to play around and pounce on things I see, / I may bring home a furry gift [picture of cat sitting proudly in front of upended, reposed in death mouse neatly placed before family] for friends and family.” What happens to the two arch protagonists of this tale, I’ll leave to you to find out…

Brodsky states in her afterword to Purrsnikitty that the idea of writing a book about cats came after she had given a talk to a women’s group, to which she had just read her picture book about her pet dog, Cali, entitled Just Sniffing Around. A member of her audience approached her with the suggestion that she write a book about their feline counterparts, with Purrsnikitty being the result. Purrsnikitty is more than just the standard picture book fare, however, as it also contains discussion questions about cats, other pets and family members. Such questions should encourage the young child to think more deeply about their relations with family pets and their siblings. Consideration of others is a key note of this text, as it teaches the reader an awareness of others, who are not always like themselves.

Brodsky is a licensed psychotherapist, who brings her professional focus to her picture books, of which she has already written three others. Children love the continuing characters in Brodsky’s titles, which include a special pine tree, a red bird and a little girl with red pigtails. The continuity of characters conveys a sense of comfort to children. Purrsnikitty has been used as a creative fundraiser for animal shelters in New England, where a cat contest was held to find a cat to star in the title role. The illustrator, Cameron Bennett, has a young daughter of his own, so is an able portrayer of animals for young people. He also teaches drawing and painting at the New Hampshire Institute of Art, so is keenly aware of the educational benefits to be derived from such media.

A worthwhile investment for any parents who wish to bring up their children to love animals, Purrsnikitty is an ideal and reassuring bedtime companion. In short, it has earned both the cat and dog golden paw print of approval (Meow! Woof!).

Puzzlebook Trilogy: 303 Puzzle Quizzes / The Grabarchuk Family - Book Review

Do your kids loathe anything to do with algebra and geometry? Why not try them on some fun puzzle quizzes devised by The Grabarchuk Family? They’re interactive, fun and stimulating, even for the most uncooperative learner. Why not print out a few and leave them lying around the house―when your no doubt inquisitive kids ask: “So, what ARE these?” you can explain how you find them intriguing. Let them time one another as to how fast they can do the puzzles―what do you know, maybe their competitive streak will kick in and they’ll start wanting to do them themselves…

303 Puzzle Quizzes (Grabarchuk Puzzles; ASIN: B007F81DJM) is a compilation of three preceding Puzzlebooks brought out by the Grabarchuk Family: 100 Puzzle Quizzes, 101 Puzzle Quizzes, and 102 Puzzles Quizzes. So, if you already have the other three, you might decide to opt out on this one. However, if you have only just discovered the Grabarchuk Family’s offerings, this is a great way to get all three volumes at an even more reasonable price than usual. The range of puzzles is truly amazing, and should keep any family intrigued for hours. Why not encourage your kids to embark on a puzzle marathon with kids in the area―you could even get them to raise funds for their favorite projects in this way, by seeking sponsorship for their efforts. Imagine how exciting it would be for them to go on your local radio and/or TV station with such a marathon―they could gain instant fame by doing something that they might once have viewed as geeky!

As the compilers of this latest attention-grabbing mega collection of puzzles, The Grabarchuk Family certainly knows what it’s about! Having established a firm footing in the puzzle industry, they have developed an excellent reputation for themselves, and know well how to maximize their market share. That they have an international following of thousands is largely due to their approach being so open to what their readership really wants of them. Encouraging the many puzzle addicts that find their puzzles so worthwhile and stimulating that they just want to keep coming back for more to provide invaluable feedback, they have developed an amazing following on both Twitter and Facebook. In short, their market outreach is phenomenal, and they have a wide range of ardent admirers.

But don’t let me try to persuade you―why not wade right in, visit their online sites, try doing a few of the puzzles, if you haven’t done so yet, and see for yourself why they are so extremely popular. However long you spend on them, you can be guaranteed that it won’t be time wasted.

Tales from Gunderland / Hank Quense - Book Review

This delightful collection of six short stories and two novellas is set in the mythical realm of Gundarland on a planet named Gundar, which, according to Quense, was named after “the omniscient god who accidentally created the universe with an explosive sneeze caused by snorting a larger-than-average dose of His favorite recreational powder.” As you can gather, this work is only for older kids and their insightful parents…

Gunderland itself is populated by such diverse races as “dwarfs, humans, elves, half-pints, yuks and a few lesser races…[that]…live cheek-by-jowl in many cases and get along with no more than the usual interracial hostility”. And, don’t worry, you definitely don’t have to be a geek to enjoy their adventures, despite two of the pieces in Tales from Gundarland being satires of two of the Great Bard’s (i.e. Shakespeare’s) most popular works: “Romeo & Juliet” and “Merchant of Venison” (a send-up of The Merchant of Venice). A few of the tales are under ten pages, while the others vary substantially in length. All of them, however, are side-splittingly funny, and, if you enjoy the writings of Terry Pratchett, you should enjoy these too. Quense’s irreverent take on the world of fantasy is most amusing, I find, when he describes the relationships between fellow characters and between man and beast. Mind you, the characterization of the yuks is also a key source of humor, and reminded me somewhat of the trolls in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Their poor grasp on the English language is most evident in the verbal spats between the yuk brothers, Rolf and Ralf. Quense promises to return to these two characters in other stories, as he likes them too much to ignore them. 

In “Chasing Dreams”, a hilarious spoof on The Mask of Zorro, and a number of other westerns, the showdown at Okidoky Corral is accompanied by cheer-leading molls, who raise some dust linking arms and performing multiple high leg kicks. In fact, one might say that the women tend to be a feisty bunch throughout the tales, including one princess who refuses to be rescued from a tower by a Warrior-Cook, for fear that she will never be able to show her face at court again if she is saved by anyone other than a nobleman (“Boggerts Blue”). The pages teem with loads of swashbuckling adventure, both on land and sea, with heroes and villains aplenty—just don’t expect them to be archetypal! 

Quense acknowledges the help that he received from an international group of critics known as the Critters, who helped him to shape the stories. Another group of writers who also provided input into the stories was drawn from as far away and as diverse locations as the Canary Islands, Greece, Britain and Ireland. Further details of the author are available on his website: http://hankquesne.com, and you can follow his “antics, rants and occasional snippets of wisdom” on his blog: http://hankquesne.com/blog.  Tales from Gundarland (Quense; ISBN: 9781452871264) is an enjoyable read, and thoroughly recommended as light relief from the more serious stuff.

Maps of Fate / Reid Lance Rosenthal - Book Review

Who ever would have thought that a fourth-generation cattleman and rancher, with his feet firmly grounded in the soil of the American Midwest, would have the imaginary zeal and literary prowess to bring to fruition in a series of novels of sweeping grandeur the essence of the evolving landscape of the largest nation on the North American continent? Yet that is exactly what Reid Lance Rosenthal has done, and is continuing to do, in Threads West, An American Saga. Following on his first, much acclaimed volume in the series, Threads West, comes Maps of Fate (Rockin’ Sr Publishing; ISBN: 978-0-9821576-3-3), which has already garnered a host of awards in the Western, Fiction and Romance categories.

Rosenthal’s command of the nuances of the English language is fluent and strong. His descriptions range from the sensual and evocative, such as in his exploration of the relationship of the Native American Walks with Moon with her husband (“She savored the warmth of his whispers.”), to the harsh and dramatic, as is so clearly visualized in his account of the renegade marauding party (“Black Feather rose, scalp in one bloody hand and the silver-red knife dripping in the other.”). Rosenthal is as aware of the intricacies of his own language as the characters are of themselves (to be seen, for instance, in mountain man Zeb’s feeling “a grin grow under the bushy shadow of the handlebar curve of his heavy, long mustache”) and their surroundings (as when the slave woman Lucy, in her plans to escape the oppression of their conditions, speaks “in a low tone, with a glance at the door”).

Apart from his excellent characterization of his entire cast, Rosenthal also pays conscientious and painstaking attention to details of the setting in which he portrays his wide-ranging cast, going so far even as to pay attention to minute intricacies of dress.

Rosenthal’s incisive and dramatic revelation of the core elements of spiritual and moral fibre that have contributed to the making of the American nation makes for an unforgettable saga that has already been favorably compared to Larry McMurtry’s bestselling Pulitizer prizewinning account of life in the American West, Lonesome Dove (with the promise of Rosenthal’s work surpassing the other in both scope and extent) and to James A. Michener’s inviting glimpses into the entire history of North America in one volume in Centennial (with the Threads West series being more focused in time, thus allowing for greater in-depth exploration of character). With growing awareness of, and interest in, the unfolding and evolving saga, it is likely that Rosenthal’s epic masterpiece will come, in popularity, to rival even some of Louis L’Amour’s best loved work.

Puzzlebook: 102 Puzzle Quizzes / The Grabarchuk Family - Book Review

In this third volume of the highly acclaimed Puzzlebook: Puzzle Quizzes series, the Grabarchuk Family once more does itself proud in the arena of pictorial puzzle quizzes that span the range of visual, spatial, counting, geometry, matchstick, coins and searching puzzles, plus many more. In Puzzlebook: 102 Puzzle Quizzes (Grabarchuk Puzzles; ASIN: B005PQ53TM), the authors’ choice of bright colors and variety of shapes that they use in their hand-crafted delights is truly admirable. The puzzles are all presented, as always, in a highly logical and rational way. Clearly, the Grabarchuk Family takes great pride in their work, and so they should. For a company that is based in the Ukraine, their puzzles are fascinatingly international in flavor.

The authors’ careful explanation of how the ebook works encourages an easy familiarity with the format from the very first. Being able to work through the various levels of puzzle, which are all clearly marked as belonging to a level from one to five, is reassuring and encouraging. The puzzles can take anything from a few minutes to several, depending on your level of expertise. They are all highly stimulating and encourage lateral thinking.

The Grabarchuk Family also clearly enjoy interacting with their audience of puzzlers, as they encourage one to contact them either through their Facebook page, or on Twitter. Befriending them on the former, or following them on the latter, can increase your enjoyment of their books to a marked degree, as not only can you then see what others have to say about their work (which is all very complimentary, it seems), but you also come to learn at first hand of their freeby puzzles that they tend to make available on such special occasions as Mother’s Day. They truly are a family-centred firm, and clearly have the best interests of their audience at heart.

I always play their puzzles on the Kindle app for Windows, as I work on my laptop, so I have ready access to a few moments’ relief when the job at hand (either editing or indexing) threatens to become a little tedious. Being a non-smoker, I then tend to take a ‘puzzle break,’ rather than a smoke one – much healthier for one, both physically and mentally, I assure you! 

The Salt of My Desire / Joan Schrauwen - Book Review

Strongly reminiscent of Joy Packer’s writings, but with a great deal more depth and multidimensionality, Joan Schrauwen’s The Salt of My Desire, set in South West Africa during the second half of the twentieth century, is remarkable for the multiple viewpoints from which she speaks. In turn, all the major characters have an opportunity to express their point of view and perspective on the central themes of the novel. The interplay between the various characters is all the richer for them being empowered in this way to express their individuality and knowledge in their different fields of expertise. Ranging from the Byronic hero, Nicholas Nordman Jr., who was born a half-caste child from a relationship between a local Nama girl and a Dutch farmer, but who was totally accepted into the latter’s household, through the leading female protagonist, Emilie (who is the key narrator, speaking in the first person, while the others are presented in the third person), Emilie’s Zaire-born minder, Shaba, to the Bushman, ’Ki, each adds a different dimension to the politically informed and romantic landscape of this novel.

Joan Schrauwen has extensive personal experience of the South West African landscape and it shows, not only in her intimate knowledge of the various peoples of this wartorn and troubled land, but also in her sensitive grasp of the environmental aspects of which she writes. She is largely a product of this country, and has an amazingly perceptive and insightful view of the geographical, linguistic and political entities that have gone into making the country what it is today. Her linguistic command of the vernacular languages shows throughout, as she interposes expressions that are native to the land. Her overview of the relationship between the Angolan forces and the ruling authorities in South West Africa during the time of the Angolan civil conflict provides valuable commentary on the military and political events of the day.

As an artist who illustrates her own work with line drawings, Schrauwen has an incredibly poetic outlook on the land and its people, which has more recently been shown in her non-fiction work, West Coast: A Circle of Seasons in South Africa, that describes in loving and familiar detail the history and biodiversity of the West Coast of South Africa, which she has now made her home. One feels the intensity of her vision reflected through the various characters in The Salt of My Desire. One of Emilie’s dearest memories is of “the scent of lemon leaves and dust after the first rains” and Nord (a.k.a. Nicholas Nordman Jr.), as a child, loves flinging himself down in the river sand until spots of mica dance before his eyes, clinging “to leaves and blades of grass so that the world shone with silver”. Schauwen’s respect for, and appreciation of, other cultures permeates the text—and, as she expresses her admiration for their language, their stories, and their heritage, you, as the reader, start to empathise more and more deeply with what she has to say. She comes across as a wonderfully warm, sincere and well-meaning person, and I have only admiration for the rich texture of her work.

The Half-Made World / Felix Gilman - Book review

Psychological insights into the functioning of those living in the mythical old and new world are key to understanding the progression of The Half-Made World (Tom Doherty Associates; ISBN: 978-0-7653-2552-5. When Dr. Liv Alverhausen, with a doctorate in abnormal psychology, who is based in the Faculty of Psychological Sciences at Koenigswald Academy in the old world, receives a letter that is addressed to her recently deceased husband, she opens it to find an invitation to bring the latest learning about mental science to the House Dolorous nestled in the Flint Hills of the new world. In brief, she finds the invitation so compelling that she leaves her post at the Academy to venture into fields new and mindsets as yet incompletely explored. House Dolorous tends to those who have been physically or mentally wounded in the Great War, and especially “by the mind-shattering noise-bombs of the Line.” As the opening scenes of The Half-Made World reveal the aftermath of a battle between the Hill People and the Linesmen, in which we see the devastation wrought by such inventions, we are immediately pulled into the action and start to feel great empathy for the heroine of this tale. Having a female protagonist in the midst of grisly and disturbing battle scenes is a major draw card of this well-written and insightful foray into the genre of steampunk.

 

Steampunk is a genre in which the creations of an ‘other’ world are rationally bound together in a way that has both intellectual and imaginative dimensions. The inventions, such as the war machinery that is wielded by The Gun of The Half-Made World, have a meaning and tangibility, as well as possible repercussions, that spread far past the story that is told in any one particular text. Instead, they are grounded in a world of possibility that is likely to have frightening repercussions for our own futures. The tale is the medium in which elements of our increasingly mechanized and automated existence are brought to bear on intelligently wrought and imaginatively conceived characters, so that we are inspired to think about where our own world is likely to end, no matter whether that ending is a bang or a whimper.

 

With war seeming to be an inevitable component of our human existence, and the impact of the ongoing conflict in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan being felt on our nation as a whole, the central themes of The Half-Made World should be close to each one of us.  Felix Gilman, a nominee for the John W. Campbell award and the Locus Award for best new writer, has done himself proud in this outstanding work of science fiction. As such, it is a must for any supporter of the genre.  

Puzzlebook: 100 Puzzle Quizzes / The Grabarchuk Family - Book Review

The Grabarchuk Family is well-known for producing puzzles for various media, including books, magazines, newspapers and the Web. In 100 Puzzle Quizzes (Grabarchuk Puzzles; ASIN: B0055KX5SO), you’ll find 100 from among their best, presented in a colorful and interactive format that is likely to make your fingers itch to play. Feel as though you are mentally trapped in a rut? One convenient and highly accessible way of getting your brain cells into gear once more might be only an ereader away!

Are you a relative newcomer to the world of puzzling? No need to fear, as these puzzles are geared to match a range of needs, stretching from the novice to the experienced. Whoever you are, you’re likely to find that many of them appeal directly to you. You can progress at your own pace, and as the amount of time that is available at your disposal allows.Specifically designed to develop your mental acuity and powers of lateral thinking, 100 Puzzle Quizzesis likely to have you thinking more flexibly within a matter of minutes. The visual appeal of each of these specially hand-crafted puzzle quizzes should hold an intrinsic appeal for you, no matter your age, with the themes varying widely, and the form taking any one of a large variety, spanning the spatial, counting, geometry, matchstick, coins, and searching,among others.

Just remember to keep your e-reader at hand for maximum fun! I do, as I use the Kindle app for Windows to interact with 100 Puzzle Quizzes via my laptop, which is my constant companion (I do nearly all my editing on there). I love breaking up a long piece of work by rewarding myself with a few minutes off to do one of the quizzes. Why not try rewarding yourself in this way too? Beats playing countless card games any day!

Patch - Assumption is a Crime / Mucheru Njaga - Book Review

Raised on a diet of beatings and thrashings from his alcoholic father, Gabriel first wins his way into his principal’s heart in High School by telling him that, unlike the other boys, he doesn’t aspire to being the most popular boy at school, but rather to find himself instead. Impressed by his attitude, Principal Thornton recommends him for a full scholarship at Prince of Wales Boarding School, the proverbial “best of the best,” set in East Africa. In the next scene, the vista of the internationally recognized boarding school, grounds for the development of the wealthy and the famous from across the globe, opens out before a newcomer, Nigel, who comes from an affluent home, and who, surprisingly enough, is not at all happy about coming to the school. In front of a cheering crowd, Principal Boon introduces all present to those to whom he chooses to refer as the “guardian angels entrusted to tirelessly guide and watch over your little ones.” Most of those present are unaware that the so-called “guardian angels” will soon come to be recognized as the villains of the piece, at least by those who are subjected to their seemingly endless bullying and victimization.
 
Patch (M&K AuthorHouse; ISBN: 978-0615378770), Mucheru Njaga’s debut novel, was loosely based on his own experiences at the school. He was inspired to write the novel by a news article that he read in 2003 about a teenage boy who committed suicide in the US after months of bullying. Though Njaga insists that the tale is not an exposé as such and that none of the characters is real, he does admit that some of the events are true. He hopes, in fact, that the book will open up both national and international discourse on the root causes of bullying, by allowing its readers to look at the practice from both the perspective of the victim, as well as from that of the perpetrator. Keeping in mind that October is National Bullying Month, the publication of the book at this time of year is of particular importance. Also in a number of countries in Africa the school year starts at the beginning, rather than in the middle of, the year. As the subject of Patch is of just as much relevance to people living on that continent as it is to those living in the US, the publication date could not be better. Both kids and their parents could do well be reading this novel over the vacation and studying its import prior to the start of the school year, or the next semester.
 
Mucheru Njaga was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, and studied creative writing at Hunter College. Before writing Patch, he worked on a number of different screenplays for several independent productions. The novel was, in fact, adapted from one of his own original screenplays. He is currently based in San Francisco, California.            

103 Puzzle Quizzes / The Grabarchuk Family - Book Review

The latest in the series of puzzle e-books produced by the Grabarchuk Family, 103 Puzzle Quizzes is both entertaining and enlightening. With the puzzles advancing from relatively simple to the more complex and demanding, their colorfulness and instructive nature should appeal to many who wish to wile away the time or to recover from the stresses of the day. Think Mensa-type brain teasers geared towards the average (wo)man in the street and you’ll know roughly what to expect. The multiple-choice format means that you aren’t likely to be stumped by any of the puzzles – the focus is on fun, though the puzzles are likely to make you more flexible in your thinking as well.

One of the nicer things about the puzzles is that, as they are largely visual, your knowledge of the English language doesn’t need to be advanced in order to grasp what they are all about. In addition, they could make an ideal way in which to round off any IT instruction class at school or community college level. As one can note from the designated authors, arising as a combined family effort, the puzzles are suitably family-oriented, including content for all age groups. The layout is so easy to follow that even a complete newcomer to the e-world of books will have no difficulty in progressing from puzzle to solution and back.

I used the Kindle app for Windows to read this book, and found it truly user friendly. As an editor, I do most of my work on my laptop in my small den, overlooking our garden and sundry bird, cat and tortoise life, so the medium is most familiar to me. Also as an editor, however, I found that the occasional language slip in the book jarred somewhat, especially taking into consideration that there is relatively little text involved. For instance, “Which watch is working not correctly?” should read “Which watch is not working correctly?” (But then, of course, you’ve most probably heard the old one of editors being overly picky and anally retentive…).

All in all, though, this book is instructive and fun, deserving a place on any keen puzzler’s e-book reader. Can’t wait for the next one… 

The Last Rendezvous: A Novel / Anne Plantagenet; translated from the French by Willard Wood - Book Review

The Last Rendezvous (Other Press; ISBN: 978-1-59051-278-4 (pbk.); 978-1-59051-372-9 (e-book)) is the fictional autobiography of the dedicated poet and reluctant actress, Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, who lived from 1786 to 1859. As Plantagenet notes in her “Acknowledgments” to the novel, “[t]his novel distorts historical reality throughout. The actual life of Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French woman of letters (b. Douai, 1786; d. Paris, 1859) was likely quite different from the one recounted here. And Marceline Desbordes-Valmore would not have told her story as I have. She would not have told it at all.”

Marceline definitely is not portrayed as a shrinking violet in The Last Rendezvous. In fact, she appears to wallow in her emotions, while disregarding those of her husband, Prosper Valmore, as well as those of her lover and inspiration for most of her poetic genius, Hyacinthe Thabaud de Latouche, more familiarly known as Henri. For a large portion of the novel, Marceline portrays herself as being torn between the stability that her husband provides and the intoxication of her romantic involvement with her reclusive and eccentric lover. The intensity and depth with which Plantagenet reveals the quandaries that beset Marceline are dwelt on as though they come from the personal explorations of an intimate journal.

Plantagenet alternates chapters between the young Marceline, who is torn away from her father and other siblings in her mother’s elopement of the spirit to the Antilles islands, where her mother succumbs to ill health, and the older, more emotionally drained, Marceline, who can only find respite in the arms of her physically unattractive, though intellectually astute, lover. Readers are inevitably encouraged to compare the older and the younger Marceline, which facilitates their becoming involved in the sequence of events. The dichotomy between present and past is not only intriguing, adding to the multi-layered feel of the text, but also mirrors the spirit of the correspondence on which Marceline spent much of her life, even coming to refer to it as her “religion”.

Marceline’s own waywardness, as it is portrayed in the pages of this novel, seems to be part hereditary, part due to her unusual upbringing. She appears to feel no remorse about her actions, which were far from conventional at the time. However, her compassion for social outcasts, as well as for her alcoholic father and brother, reveal traits of kindness, to which she makes only passing reference, as she does to the political and social upheaval of the revolutionary times in which she lived. Anne Plantagenet’s personal knowledge of the French landscape, including that of the distinction between Parisian and small town life, adds resonance to the text.

The work ends with a selection of poems by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, which are given both in their original French and in their English translation by Louis Simpson, with the assistance of Willard Wood. Included are “Elegy” (“Élégie”), “If He Had Known” (“S’il l’avait su”), “No Longer” (“Je ne sais plus, je ne veux plus”), “The Last Rendezvous” (“Le dernier rendez-voux”), “Apart” (“Les séparés”), “Waiting” (“l’Attente”), “Are You Asleep?” (“Dors-tu?”), “The Sincere Woman” (“La Sincère”), “Go in Peace” (“Allez en paix”), “The Roses of Saadi” (“Les roses de Saadi”), and “Intermittent Dream of a Sad Night” (“Rêve intermittent d’une nuit triste”).

Anne Plantagenet was awarded the 2005 Award for Narrative Biography by the Académie internationale des arts et collections for Seule au rendez-vous. This novel should appeal to all who are interested in the Romantic Movement and to the literary outpourings of women. However, it can also be read as a straightforward period romance, so The Last Rendezvousshould be blessed with a wide reading audience.

Little Pieces: This Side of Japan / Michael Hoffman - Book Review

Michael Hoffman has been based in Japan from a relatively young age, to which he attributes the fact that the stories in Little Pieces: This Side of Japan (Virtualbookworm.com; ISBN: 978-1-60264-605-6) are set “not [in] the Japan of the Japanese, not quite the Japan of the non-Japanese, maybe nobody’s Japan but mine.” However, the Japanese background of these stories is unmistakable, from the descriptions of the urban landscapes (including the forest-parks, set “right in the heart of the city”) and weather (with snow seeming to be the most pervasive element) to the inner furnishings of the homes that serve as the setting for each of the six stories. Not only are the outer features Japanese in nature, but so, too, is the spirit and the ethos of the book, which is very much that of Zen Buddhism.

The style of “First Snow” bears a close resemblance to magical realism. Snow seems to erase the outside world, so that the whole attention is focused inwards. The attainment of utter serenity is seen as only truly being made possible by the annihilation of the will. The sense of inescapable elation that is possible when one becomes oblivious to one’s surroundings is poignantly conveyed, as is the sense of being totally at peace with oneself when devoid of emotion. 

As the narrator says, “It’s only when I open my eyes that I feel cold.”The paradoxical tone has elements of grimness, relieved with certain touches of lightness (think of The Incredible Lightness of Being). In “Dragonflies,” for example, the perfect death is seen as one that comes upon one unexpectedly, as in by murder, which is “[t]he very opposite of the slow deterioration and lingering agony that’s more likely in store for us.” In this tale the attraction of young to old, which is, in itself, a contradiction, is ultimately seen as being a resolution, with the leading female character regarding herself, in her slavery to her male partner, as the freest of women. Hoffman’s tales upend the conventional, with a woman, who is regarded by her scholar lover as being intellectually inferior, having the gift of foretelling and possessing greater insight into their relationship than he does.

An awareness of nature is an underlying theme throughout the tales. When one lacks an awareness of the beauty and transcendent qualities of nature, it is then that one is likely to commit the most heinous of crimes. Throughout the stories one is also made aware of the importance of dreaming, which is seen as being just as, or even more important than, one’s waking moments. Central to the stories is the awareness that “[l]ife and death are clear. It’s the human heart, the human heart that is murky.” The yearning for solitude is reflected in the longing to escape from the “banal assault” of the daily routine

The soul is also seen as being incarcerated within the body. “Once free of it, the soul expands to its natural dimensions, which are limitless, limitless.” The awareness of life beyond words and books is ironical, in that the conveyance of such an awareness has, inevitably, to be through words that encapsulate all meaning. Hoffman is only too conscious of “[t]he hideous blankness of the mind as it churns in vain to produce the right word, the right phrase.”

Little Pieces: This Side of Japan is a succinct volume of profound thought, conveyed in fictional form. It should appeal to all those who are interested in the Japanese way of life and thinking. 

When No One is Watching / Joseph Hayes - Book Review

What happens when the two worlds of law enforcement and politics collide? Naturally, a messy business, just as messy as the scenario that forms the opening scenes of When No One Is Watching (Synergy Books; ISBN: 0-9843879-4-3). Two friends drive home together high on life, the one joy-riding his friend’s Porsche, the other passed out cold in the passenger’s seat. When a crash occurs and another man is killed, guess who is made to take the blame? Naturally, the latter, who remembers blow all about the incident, apart from having to come to his senses and face the consequences. In a matter of minutes, isn’t it just plain ironical how one of your closest buddies can turn into one of your worst nightmares?

 

When No One Is Watching might appear at first to be a straightforward detective story, but, in fact, has far deeper and more lasting implications. The dramatic irony of the plot, in terms of which we, as readers, know who, in fact, has perpetrated the crime, means that we can view the police investigation of the crime from an omniscient standpoint. The focus, accordingly, is on the interplay between the different characters involved and on the multidimensionality of their psyches rather than on the unraveling of the plot as such. Not that the book is not exciting—it most definitely is, and deeply intriguing, too. The pace of the writing is fluid and fast, engaging the reader from start to finish. The work is also so well written that one can read it in a single sitting—many readers will no doubt feel like sitting up all night reading the novel, so take care when you choose to read it (a weekend would be the best!).

 

All of the characters, including a child who suffers from Down’s Syndrome, are portrayed with empathy and understanding. The compelling tale of how political aspirations can lead to the betrayal of close friendships leads one to question the nature of crime and morality, so that one is left long afterwards thinking about different aspects of the book. When No One Is Watching should also lead one to consider the phenomenon of drunk driving and the impact that it can have on others, especially on innocent bystanders. The novel works on so many levels that all I can say is—read it, you most definitely won’t be wasting your time!    

Threads West: An American Saga / Reid Lance Rosenthal - Book Review

Few people expect an experienced cattle rancher also to be a wonderful conveyor of ideas in writing about the land, yet that is exactly what Reid Lance Rosenthal is. Fourth generation cattleman, first generation author, Rosenthal is as large in spirit as his books are in depth. The much-acclaimed Threads West: An American Saga (Rockin’ Sr Publishing; ISBN: 978-0-9821576-1-9) addresses the very roots of Americana, blending romance and high excitement with a spiritual awareness of the strong and ethical spirit that permeates the land.

Starting an anticipated six volumes of saga in the year 1855, which Rosenthal regards as being a key time for the opening up of the American West, in Threads West: An American Saga he grounds his leading characters in the origins from which they have come, whether from a European country or home stock born and bred. Equal credence and viability is given to both man and woman, to those who are lowly born and those who come from the moneyed classes. The genuineness of his characters and the authenticity of their setting sweeps one away into another, more primary world than that which we frequent nowadays. According to Rosenthal, his key focus is on the “separate lives of these driven men and independent women [who] are drawn to a common destiny that beckons seductively in the wild remote flanks of the American West.”

Romance and the land are two pivotal impetuses of his work, both of which so clearly appeal to the American public that Threads West: An American Saga has already garnered several national awards (including those for Best Western, Best Romance, and Best Historical Fiction), and more acclaim is sure to follow. Rosenthal asserts that key influences on his work include Crane and Hemingway, who have always thrilled him in their detailed description of scenes and circumstances, and McMurtry and L’Amour, whose gritty portrayal of the thoughts, ethics, and personalities of the West have set a high benchmark to which to aspire. Rosenthal’s fine detail and lack of pretentiousness attest to the above, with many drawing attention to the similarity of his writing to that of the latter two authors especially.

Having committed himself to his writing of the series, Threads West, of which this work is the namesake, Rosenthal clearly sees that he has a daunting challenge ahead of him, yet he finds that his work transports him to another realm in time and place. The reader of historical fiction, too, is likely to find themselves drawn in to a world imbued with energy and dynamism – the opening of the American West.

Shut Up / Anne Tibbets - Book Review

It’s tough being the youngest child, especially when your older sister becomes an unmarried mom at the age of seventeen and is an apparent ingrate to boot. Told from the point of view of Mary, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, by her older brother Paul, Shut Up (Premier Digital Publishing; ISBN: 978-1-937957-36-0) is the sometimes harrowing tale of how the child who appears to be the most vulnerable and open to abuse, whether of an emotional or physical nature, is often the one to win through in the end.

A quick, yet insightful, read, Shut Up is likely to appeal to both t(w)eenager and adult alike. The warmth and compassion of the author can be read between the lines in her nonjudgmental approach – she lets the protagonists speak for themselves, and even accounts for the less savory actions of the other characters in a way that lets us realize that, however heinous certain actions might, at first glance, appear, the motives underlying them are usually within our grasp, even if we believe that, in similar circumstances, we would not choose to act in the same way.

Shut Up, which is a relatively short book of only 110 pages (including the two-page of Acknowledgements), should serve as a valuable text for reading in youth groups, where discussion about the contents can be guided by youthful and empathetic adults. The topics of abuse, favouritism and unmarried mothers, among others, would benefit from being brought out in the open, as there are few who have not been affected by similar incidents, even if among friends, rather than within the more immediate situation of one’s own nuclear family. The author herself attests to having experienced many of the events that are so graphically portrayed in the book during her own childhood, although they are fictionalized in this account. Tibbets reminds us, “This is not a memoir. This is fiction.” Most revealing is her dedication of the book: “For My Parents Who did the best they could.”

Anne Tibbets, who is a Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators award-winning and Smashwords.com Best Selling author, is a firm supporter of strong female characters, whom she places in familiar, everyday settings, although she has also written a middle grade time travel adventure, The Amulet Chronicles and a young adult fantasy The Beast Call. Her close awareness of the risk that depressed teens stand of attempting to commit suicide is reflected in the linkages that she provides on her website to the Suicide Hotline and the Teen Depression website.

In short, Shut Up is a thought-provoking and courageous approach to some extremely taxing issues troubling teenagers today. The novel is recommended for any resource centre for youngsters, as well as for any school or public library collection.