Book Review: OMG...Am I A Witch? by Talia Aikens-Nunez

Title: OMG...Am I a Witch? by Talia Aikens-Nunez
Published October 31, 1013; Pinwheel Books
Genre: children's literature
Objective rating: 4/5

About the book: April is in the fifth grade and has used the internet to find a magic spell to change her irritating older brother Austin into a dog. Scared of what her parents will think or do, April gets her friend Grace to help her find another spell on the internet to undo the damage and return Austin to his human state. She wonders at her powers and if it means she is a witch. This is a very cute little story of 143 pages, illustrated at the beginning of each chapter

My comments: . There is suspense when April and Grace are almost found out by their parents that there is a dog in April's bedroom. The suspense continues when they have to find excuses for Austin's non-appearance at home, and for keeping Grace at April's house while they plan. How they manage to outwit their parents is all in the fun. And of course, there is a happy ending.

I think fifth graders and children in that age group will enjoy this book, for the suspense as well as for the characters of the two girls, April and Grace, not to mention, Austin the little dog. Well written, with an unusual story line, I think the book will appeal to middle school children and younger.

About the author: Talia Aikens-Nuñez wanted to be a meteorologist, a politician and a lawyer. She never thought she would be a writer. It was the birth of her daughter and raising a bilingual child that inspired Talia to write multicultural children’s books. She, her husband and daughter live on a river in Connecticut with their daughter Isabella.
Find out more about Talia at her website and connect with her on Facebook.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book. For more reviews of OMG...visit this link.

Sunday Salon: This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday at its permanent home, and Stacking the Shelves at Tyngas' Reviews.

My good friend this year has been goodreads, which allows me to keep track of books I have read and rated, even commented on, so I don't always feel the need to post a full page review on my blog. Goodreads can announce your books read on facebook too.

 I have just read the two excellent books by Wiley Cash, sent courtesy of William Morrow -
This Dark Road to Mercy and A Land More Kind Than Home, both of which I rated a 5/5 on goodreads.  I learned more about the rural North Carolina setting from these literary novels which also read a little like thrillers.

Next on my reading list is Laura Lippman's After I'm Gone and a new cozy by Daryl Wood Gerber, Inherit the Word, a Cookbook Nook mystery.

New books in the mail?

What are you reading these days?

THE SAME MOON by Junying Kirk

Title: The Same Moon by Junying Kirk
Published April 6, 2013
Genre: fiction

Chapter One: Forbidden Love

The young man who haunted me in my dreams was Xia Yu, the solemn looking boy who first caught my shy eyes when I was barely thirteen and has occupied a sacred corner in my heart ever since.

 “Do you know why my parents named me Xia Yu?” His voice was deep and intense, yet full of tenderness. (Junying Kirk. The Same Moon (Kindle Locations 160-163). 

page 56: 

“I want to give you something, from China... and I hope you like them,” I struggled on a nervous murmur, my hand reaching out with what I had picked out earlier. 

“Wow, this is beautiful,” his face shone in delight with my first gift, a beautifully painted calligraphic classic poem. (Junying Kirk. The Same Moon (Kindle Locations 5127-5129). 

Book description: 
"Pearl Zhang was born in Sichuan Province in China, and grew up during the Cultural Revolution. She was raised in a typically Chinese manner, went to school, got a job and got married, and her whole life path had been mapped out, or so it seemed. She then seized the opportunity to study in the United Kingdom – and stayed.  How did Pearl adjust to the Western way of life, and what did she have to do to overcome the barriers? Would she find happiness and fulfillment with her English suitor in Scotland, or would her heartache continue? She was in a new world, both foreign and exciting – albeit under the Same Moon.

This book, the first of Junying Kirk’s “Journey to the West” Trilogy, will take you on a journey full of surprises and discoveries, history and culture - from the East to the West - and from the Middle Kingdom to the United Kingdom." (publisher)

Junying Kirk's second and third books, in the trilogy are Trials of Life, which continues the story of Pearl in the United Kingdom, and Land of Hope, a novel of international intrigue.

Thanks to the author for a review copy of this book. 

Friday 56 Rules: *Grab a book, any book.

*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader  *Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you. *Post it. *Add your (url) post in Linky at Freda's Voice.

Also Book Beginnings by Rose City Reader.

Book Review: Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim

Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim
Published by Europa Editions (January 7, 2014)
Genre: historical fiction

My comments: An excellent weaving of historical fact into fiction, written with stark frankness. The novel will tell you more than you may already know about the perilous political and social situation of the Jews in France and Germany even before the war, of some who might have survived and some who didn't. This historical novel follows Rose, a young American reporter in the 1930s, to Paris and Berlin where she observes what takes place in France and Germany before the war. An old lady now, she writes her memoirs up to 1989 and ponders the fateful decision she was forced to make as she fled Europe before the war broke out.

Book description: "Inspired by the story of a distant cousin who was murdered in Paris in 1937, award-winning author Michele Zackheim’s book is a gripping epic about a half-Jewish female reporter from Nevada who writes for the Paris Courier in the 1930’s. The sole woman in the newsroom, she lives with both sexism and anti-Semitism.

Then she meets Leo, a German radical and anti-Nazi and realizes that while Paris is interesting, the truly vital historical story is taking place across the border. Rose undertakes an assignment in the Berlin press office, where she is initially happy and in love until Kristallnacht and the growing threat of Nazism. When World War II is declared, Americans are forced to leave the country and Rose must make an agonizing choice: Who will go with her on the last train to Paris?

Zackheim tells her story from vantage point of Rose as an elderly woman, Last Train to Paris is at once a historical epic, a love story, and a psychological portrait of one woman’s gradual discovery of who she really is after years of being invisible to herself." (publisher)

Michele Zackheim is a multi-media artist as well as writer. Her work is in the permanent collections of The National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.; The Albuquerque Museum; The Grey Art Gallery of New York University; The New York Public Library; The Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum, and The Carlsbad Museum of Art. She has been the recipient of two NEA awards, and teaches Creative Writing from a Visual Perspective at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Her first book, Violette’s Embrace, is a fictional biography of the French writer Violette Leduc. Her second, Einstein’s Daughter: The Search for Lieserl, is a non-fiction account of the mystery of the lost illegitimate daughter of Mileva and Albert Einstein. Broken Colors is the story of an artist, whose life takes her to a place where life and art intersect. Visit her Author website.

 See more reviews of Last Train to Paris.
Thanks to TLC Book Reviews and the author for a review copy of this book.

Sunday Salon: When A Book Can Take You Someplace Else

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer, and It's Monday: What Are You Reading? at Book Journey. Also, Mailbox Monday at its permanent home, and Stacking the Shelves at Tyngas' Reviews.

This was the scene from my window last week and it hasn't changed much since. Some of the snow has melted, but the temperatures have been on a see-saw up and down and we are back in the minus zero wind chill zone, with bits of white being added every day.

I have a love-hate relationship with this unseasonable winter. We haven't had this kind of snow in a few years and so these blizzards and strong winds that blow snow around are almost a new experience. I love the looks of it, have taken lots of pictures, and even gone out occasionally, though I have forsaken yoga classes and am staying away from movie theaters, malls, and places where people who might have the flu congregate.

For the first time ever, I was persuaded to get a flu shot because of the scare in the area - a few people have died and many hospitalized, and the health department here says the flu this season is no respecter of age. The young and old and some seemingly healthy people in between those ages have been hit. My hope - some of these extreme temps will kill those bugs!

Two new books came in last week. Thank heavens for books~

The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh was sent by Penguin for their book tour. A young woman emigrates from London to South Africa in 1880 and has adventures and encounters that reflect a country under colonial rule.

Anyone notice that a few publishers are doing their own tours for their authors? This is the second book I have scheduled for a publisher tour.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee, from Alfred Knopf, is just right for this season. It's a modern day retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale, The Snow Queen. A young girl discovers a boy locked away in a museum, in a city where it always snows; a prisoner of the Snow Queen, he has been waiting for the girl to rescue him. Symbolic, eh?

I am caught up with reading I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War by Jerome Charyn, for a tour in a couple weeks. Also open on my desk are two books pulled from the TBR shelf:
Paris My Sweet: A Year in the City of Light (And Dark Chocolate) by Amy Thomas and
Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir by Taiwanese restaurant owner Eddie Huang.
Three very different books, but I do love the variety!
And of course, there are those wonderful cozies....

What are you reading and in what weather are you enjoying your books? Can't wait to hear!

Book Review: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax

Title: While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax
Published December 31, 2013; Jove
Genre: chick lit, women's fiction
Objective rating: 4.5/5

About the book: The novel is about three women and a concierge in an upscale apartment building in Atlanta, Georgia, modern time, who meet each other as part of the concierge's weekly Sunday event - Watching  the TV series, Downton Abbey, while having drinks and elaborate hors d'oeuvres in the building club room. These four all have their problems, however.

Samantha is married to a wealthy businessman who she feels married her out of pity and not love. Claire is a divorced mom with an 18-year-old son in college, but she believes she is failing as a writer, her chosen profession. Brooke, also divorced but with two daughters ages 5 and 7, has a self-confidence that is almost nil after her husband walked out and later moves into the same apartment building with his mistress. Ed Parker, the British concierge, relies on his uncle back in Britain for helpful advice in making his new concierge business a success.

How they all help each other cope with their problems and upcoming crises is the crux of the novel. The glue that holds their relationships together is their weekly get-togethers to watch Downton Abbey, from the first series onward.

My comments:  Great characterization, story, and plot situations made this a very enjoyable read.  The plot was well crafted and the colorful, realistic characters made the novel entertaining and lively. I highly recommend it.

Thanks to the publisher for a review copy of this book for their book tour.

Book Review: A Different Sun, a Novel of Africa by Elaine Neil Orr

Title: A Different Sun: A Novel of Africa by Elaine Neil Orr
Published April 2, 2013; Berkley
Genre: historical novel
Objective rating: 3.5/5

About the book: A novel of Emma, a young woman from Georgia, who marries an American missionary in the mid-19th century and travels with him to West Africa to live among the Yoruba people. There she lives a life of challenge as well as gets to know, befriend, and rely on the local people.

My comments: I could tell while reading the book that the author belonged to missionary people, as the novel is circumscribed by the strong and determined faith of Emma and her husband Henry Bowman to build a church and bring Christianity into the heart of the African country. How well they succeeded is not clear to me, as the customs and beliefs of the local people, and the challenges of not enough money and supplies, and isolation from other Westerners take a strong toll.

There is an element of the magical in the book, as Emma carries a talisman of sorts from her home in Georgia back to Africa. The talisman is a carved wooden knife or letter opener that the old African slave from her father's plantation, Uncle Eli, had given Emma to take to Africa with her. It somehow challenges Emma to make amends to Uncle Eli for the conditions of his slavery. The novel is told mainly from Emma's point of view, and occasionally from her husband's, and from their African cook and helper, Jacob's. As a look into the lives of missionaries abroad, it is an excellent addition to the literature of this genre.


Elaine Neil Orr's memoir, Gods of Noonday, was a Top-20 Book Sense selection. She is associate editor of Writing Out of Limbo, and the author of two scholarly books. Orr was born and grew up in Nigeria to medical missionary parents. Orr left West Africa at age sixteen and attended college in Kentucky. She studied creative writing and literature at the University of Louisville before taking her Ph.D. in Literature and Theology at Emory University.

She is Professor of English at North Carolina State University and on the faculty of the MFA in Writing Program at Spalding University. She  lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, Anderson Orr. Visit her website and Facebook page.

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the author for a review copy of this book. See more reviews by tour participants.