The Bookseller, by Cynthia Swanson #review (@TLCBookTours)

About the book, The Bookseller The Bookseller

  • Print Length: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Harper (March 3, 2015)
  • A mesmerizingly powerful debut novel about the ways in which past choices can irrevocably define the present—and the bittersweet confrontation of what might have been

    1962: It may be the Swinging Sixties in New York, but in Denver it’s different: being a single gal over thirty in this city is almost bohemian. Still, thirty-eight-year-old Kitty Miller has come to terms with her unconventional single life. She was involved, once—with a doctor named Kevin—but when things didn’t work out the way she had hoped, she decided to chart her own path. Now she dedicates herself to the bookstore she runs with her best friend, Frieda, returning home each evening to her cozy apartment. Without a husband expecting dinner, she can enjoy last-minute drinks after work with her friends; without children who need to get ready for school, she can stay up all night reading with her beloved cat, Aslan, by her side.

    Then the dreams begin.

    1963: Katharyn Andersson is married to Lars, the love of her life. They live in a picture-perfect home in a suburban area of Denver, close to their circle of friends. It’s the ideal place in which to raise their children. Katharyn’s world is exactly what Kitty once believed she wanted . . . but it exists only when she sleeps.

    At first, Kitty enjoys her nighttime forays into this alternate world. Even though there is no Frieda, no bookstore, no other familiar face, Kitty becomes increasingly reluctant to open her eyes and abandon Katharyn’s alluring life.

    But with each visit to her dreamworld, it grows more real. As the lines between the two worlds begin to blur, Kitty faces an uncertain future. What price must she pay to stay? What is the cost of letting go?

    Buy, read, and discuss The Bookseller

    Amazon | Barnes & NobleIndieBound | Goodreads


    About the author, Cynthia Swanson Cynthia Swanson

    Cynthia Swanson is a writer and a designer of the midcentury modern style. She has published short fiction in 13th Moon, Kalliope, Sojourner, and other periodicals; her story in 13th Moon was a Pushcart Prize nominee. She lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and three children. The Bookseller is her first novel.

    Connect with Cynthia

    Website | Facebook


    My Thoughts

    Because I read quickly, it’s actually pretty typical for me to pick up a book and read it straight through in a matter of a few hours. Last weekend, in fact, I read four novels that way, because it was rainy and I wasn’t feeling well, and …well, you get the idea.

    When I picked up The Bookseller (well, opened the file on my Kindle) at 3 AM on Thursday night/Friday morning, I thought, oh, I’ll just read a chapter while I sit here in the bathroom (oh, come on, you all do it, too). So entranced was I, however, by Kitty/Katharyn’s story that I found myself unable (once I’d returned to bed) to actually sleep. Instead I inhaled Cynthia Swanson’s writing, while my husband snored blissfully next to me. I was bleary by dawn, but I was bleary with a completed story settled into my consciousness.

    Swanson has created a set of characters that are plausible in both realities depicted. In the reality where our protagonist is called Kitty, her life seems a bit lonely, but charming, and and she has a good friend in Frieda and supportive loving parents. In the reality where she is Katharyn, she has the perfect husband and three adorable children, though one of them isn’t quite like the others.

    It’s obvious from the start that one reality has to go in order for the other to stay, but until the very end, I was not entirely certain which it would be, and I love that Swanson kept me guessing that long.

    As someone who spent a chunk of her childhood in suburbs (Arvada, Golden) and relative exurbs (Georgetown) of Denver, CO, I appreciated the authors level of detail. As I told a friend, “There are scenes when she shops at May D&F! I remember my mom driving there to bring home the first ‘Patty & Jimmy’ and ‘Hello Kitty’ puffy stickers, when those things were brand new to America.”

    I also appreciated that each reality was not without flaws.

    Swanson has a knack for writing complex, interesting, human characters, and for writing a book that is both technically a period piece, but at the same time, completely contemporary. I really hope she has another book in process, because hers is a voice I’d like to hear more from.

    Goes well with Hot coffee and a Navajo-style burrito (mostly because that’s what I remember eating as a kid in Colorado).


    Cynthia’s Tour Stops TLC Book Tours

    Tuesday, April 7th: Bibliotica – That’s ME!

    Wednesday, April 8th: The Discerning Reader

    Wednesday, April 8th: Read Lately

    Thursday, April 9th: A Chick Who Reads

    Friday, April 10th: 5 Minutes For Books

    Monday, April 13th: West Metro Mommy

    Tuesday, April 14th: Reading Reality

    Wednesday, April 15th: Sara’s Organized Chaos

    Thursday, April 16th: Kritters Ramblings

    Monday, April 20th: BoundbyWords

    Tuesday, April 21st: Readers’ Oasis

    Wednesday, April 22nd: Vox Libris

    Thursday, April 23rd: Read. Write. Repeat.

    Friday, April 24th: Always With a Book

    Monday, April 27th: Patricia’s Wisdom

    Tuesday, April 28th: A Bookish Way of Life

    Thursday, April 30th: Bookshelf Fantasies

    Friday, May 1st: Bibliophiliac

    Wednesday, May 6th: Ms. Nose in a Book

     

The Thing About Great White Sharks, by Rebecca Adams Wright (@rvleeadams) – #Review #Bibliotica

About the book, The Thing About Great White SharksThe Thing About Great White Sharks

  • Paperback: 182 pages
  • Publisher: Little A (February 10, 2015)

In this collection’s richly imagined title story, our brutal and resourceful protagonist is determined to protect her family from a murderous, shark-ridden world—at any cost. Elsewhere, an old woman uncovers a sinister plot while looking after a friend’s plants (“Orchids”), and a girl in the war-torn countryside befriends an unlikely creature (“Keeper of the Glass”). In “Barnstormers,” a futuristic flying circus tries to forestall bankruptcy with one last memorable show. At the heart of “Sheila” is the terrible choice a retired judge must make when faced with the destruction of his beloved robotic dog, and “Yuri, in a Blue Dress” follows one of the last survivors of an alien invasion as she seeks help.

Extending from World War II to the far future, these fifteen stories offer a gorgeously observed perspective on our desire for connection and what it means to have compassion—for ourselves, for one another, for our past…and for whatever lies beyond.

Buy, read, and discuss The Thing About Great White Sharks

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-A-Million | Goodreads


About the author, Rebecca Adams Wright Rebecca Adams Wright

Rebecca Adams Wright is a 2011 graduate of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop and a former University of Michigan Zell Writing Fellow. She has an MFA in fiction from the University of Michigan and has won the Leonard and Eileen Newman Writing Prize. Rebecca lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, with her husband and daughter.

Connect with Rebecca

Website | FacebookTwitter


My Thoughts

Short stories are a great way to get to know an author if you’re unfamiliar with her work, or if you don’t have the time to really sink into a novel. (Personally, I like to keep collections of short stories in the bathroom. Oh, come on, you all know you read there, too.)
I’ve come to think of them as a textual sampler platter. You get all sorts of characters and voices, and you don’t have to choose one to stay with.

Rebecca Adams Wright’s collection of short stories, The Thing About Great White Sharks (and Other Stories), is a prize among short story collections, because it’s fresh and unique, and just a little twisted in places…all things I appreciate.

While the title of the book (and the eponymous short story within) are what drew me to this collection (because I do have a ‘thing’ about great white sharks), and while that story – a whole new way to look at post-Apocalyptic society that (thank you, Ms. Wright) does not involve any humans shambling around or moaning for brains – was compelling, and dark, and even a little dangerous, it wasn’t my favorite of the fifteen.

That honor went to “Orchids,” which starts out as a simple little tale of a woman watering her neighbors plants and turns into something that would make Hitchcock sit up in his grave and demand to film, were that possible.

I also want to give a shout-out to “Sheila” which was sweet and sentimental without being sappy, and reminded me of both the questions that will start to come up as AIs become more widespread and more advanced (Siri has some growing up to do) and of the contemporary, and very real, issue of Breed-Selective Legislation (the laws which ban people from owning “bully” breed dogs like American Staffordshire Terriers, and other ‘pit bull types’).

But those are just three of the collection, and there are twelve others that take us back in time to World War II, and forward to when aliens are a real presence, and span many years and moods in between.

I would say that I’d love to see Ms. Wright give us a whole novel, but I’ve enjoyed her short stories so much, that my greediest self wants to demand another volume.

Goes well with Tapas and sangria or sushi and plum wine – anything that involves small bites of diverse flavors.


Rebecca Adams Wright’s TLC Book Tours Tour Stops: TLC Book Tours

This review is part of a tour organized by TLC Book Tours. For a guest post from the author, click HERE. For the complete list of tour stops, see below. For more information, click HERE.

Friday, February 13th: Book Snob – author guest post

Monday, February 16th: No More Grumpy Bookseller

Monday, February 16th: Bibliophilia, Please

Wednesday, February 18th: From the TBR Pile

Thursday, February 19th: 5 Minutes for Books

Thursday, February 19th: Diary of a Stay at Home Mom

Monday, February 23rd: Conceptual Reception

Tuesday, February 24th: Bibliotica review and author guest post

Tuesday, February 24th: Savvy Verse and Wit – author guest post

Wednesday, February 25th: Bibliophiliac

Thursday, February 26th: The Relentless Reader

Monday, March 2nd: A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall

Tuesday, March 3rd: Patricia’s Wisdom

Thursday, March 5th: Guiltless Reading

Monday, March 9th: Kahakai Kitchen

Thursday, March 12th: The Book Binder’s Daughter – author guest post

TBD: Bound by Words

TBD: Life is Story

 

 

Review & First Chapter: Maggie’s Turn by Deanna Lynn Sletten

About the book, Maggie’s Turn

Maggie's Turn

Maggie Harrison is a devoted wife and mother, always putting the needs of her family ahead of her own. Then, one day, without planning to, she drives away, leaving behind an indifferent husband and two sulking teenagers. Maggie goes off on a quest of self-exploration, enjoying adventures, meeting new people, and rediscovering her passions. For the first time in years, she dreams about what she wants out of life, and she realizes that her deteriorating marriage can no longer continue as it is. Can she and Andrew repair their floundering relationship, or is their marriage over?

Andrew Harrison likes his life to be in perfect order. He enjoys his work and status in the community, leaving Maggie to take care of everything at home. He knows his marriage isn’t perfect, but after twenty-three years and two kids, whose marriage is? When Maggie leaves without a word, he is forced to start paying more attention to his home life and his almost grown children, and he begins to do a little self-exploration of his own. Slowly, he begins to understand what drove Maggie away, and how important she is in his life. Is it too late to resolve their differences and save their marriage? Or will Andrew lose Maggie forever

Buy a copy from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.


About the author, Deanna Lynn Sletten

Deanna Lynn Sletten

Deanna Lynn Sletten writes women’s fiction and romance novels that dig deeply into the lives of the characters, giving the reader an in-depth look into their hearts and souls. She has also written one middle-grade novel that takes you on the adventure of a lifetime.

Deanna’s romance novel, Memories, was a semifinalist in The Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books of 2012. Her novel, Sara’s Promise, was a semifinalist in The Kindle Book Review’s Best Indie Books of 2013 and a finalist in the 2013 National Indie Excellence Book Awards.

Deanna is married and has two grown children. When not writing, she enjoys walking the wooded trails around her northern Minnesota home with her beautiful Australian Shepherd or relaxing in the boat on the lake in the summer.

Her latest book is the contemporary women’s fiction, Maggie’s Turn.

Connect with Deanna

Website: Deanna Lynn Sletten, author
Facebook: Deanna Lynn Sletten
Twitter: @deannalsletten


My Thoughts

I jumped at the chance to read Deanna Lynn Sletten’s novel Maggie’s Turn because it’s so rare to find a story about an adult woman that doesn’t begin with her involvement with either a murder attempt or a torrid affair, and I’m glad I did, because in many ways, I feel this book was written just for me.

Okay, I don’t have Maggie’s two kids (mine all have four feet and fur), and my husband works from home, so when he says he has to work late, that just means I bring him a mug of soup, but I know all too well how it feels to find yourself in the middle of a marriage that’s happy on the surface, but leaves you somewhat diminished.

I also know what it’s like to want to run away from home. “Let’s blow off life and go traipsing around Europe,” I often wistfully tease my closest girlfriends. “Or teach improv in a progressive school in Colorado.” They know it’s mostly a joke, but there’s always the possibility. (As it is, I run off to Baja Sur, Mexico, a couple of times a year.)

Deanna Lynn Stetten makes it clear, however, that Maggie is not a victim of any kind. We see that her life, in the beginning of the novel, is the result of choices, both made and unmade, and opinions both spoken and not.

Likewise, we are privileged to see Maggie, not rescued by a man (although she does meet at least one very interesting man), but rescued by herself.

There’s an old adage, “If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t no one is.” I’ve learned through many of the people I’ve interviewed that being happy isn’t enough. You have to put yourself first, as a whole person. You have to acknowledge that ‘mother’ and ‘wife’ (and daughter, sister, friend, volunteer, writer, artist, whatever) are not your whole self, but that each role you play is one aspect of your life. Then you have to model this for others – you can’t teach fulfillment and self-esteem, but you can demonstrate them.

In Maggie’s Turn, we see what happens when Mama – Maggie – ain’t happy, even if the root of that unhappiness is somewhat indefinable, but we also get to see what happens when she is.

More to the point, we see this through richly drawn characters who feel as much like aspects of ourselves as they do real people. Maggie, especially, is so real, so vivid, but so is her husband, her children, and people like “Wild Bill” whom she meets on her journey.

As I said, I’m not a soccer mom with two kids, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t made choices that sometimes put family before fulfillment in my own life. Maggie’s Turn was a well-written, entertaining, novel, but it was also an object lesson in finding, if not happiness, then at least contentment.

Well done, Ms. Sletten. Well done.

Goes well with A latte laced with cinnamon and nutmeg, and a slice of freshly baked pumpkin bread.


Read the first chapter of Maggie’s Turn

It had not been a good morning at the Harrison household. At least not for Maggie. Her nineteen-year-old son, Kyle, had slept in late, which meant he was late showering and would be late to one of the four college courses he was intent upon failing. Because he was running behind, her fourteen-year-old daughter, Kaia, was late getting ready for school, which meant Maggie’s husband, Andrew, had to rush to shower for work. And, of course, Maggie had to rush too since she was always the last person to use the bathroom.

Kaia was pouting and stomping around, because she’d wanted to get to school early to “hang” with her friends. Kyle rolled his eyes as he went out the door to his rusted pickup truck, mumbling that it really didn’t matter if he made it to class or not. And Andrew ran through his schedule with Maggie as he rushed out the door to work.

“Remember, I have a seven o’clock meeting tonight, so make sure dinner is on time so I’m not late,” he instructed Maggie and was gone a second later.

All Maggie had time for was one long sigh as she slipped a light sweater over her head, pulled on khaki pants, and grabbed her short, red wool jacket and purse, then ran out the door, hoping Kaia wouldn’t be late for school.

Click to continue reading the first chapter of MAGGIE’S TURN