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Giveaway: The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs

February 19, 2013 by

I’ve got a treat for those readers who adore fiction set in the 1940s and deal with family secrets.  The Secret of the Nightingale Palace by Dana Sachs is earning early praise from the Romantic Times Book Review, which said:

Sachs’ latest is so beautiful in every aspect that readers will have difficulty pinpointing the best parts. Rich in San Francisco history with brilliant characters you’ll warm up to, the two different story lines will enrapture you as well. Both women’s romances will have readers blushing and rooting for love to prosper. Elegant and tasteful, this novel is not to be missed.

What intrigues me about this book is that it is told in flashbacks, which can be tricky for writers.  And Dana Sachs’ novel is based on some true events from her own history as a Jewish American, and the inspiration for Goldie comes from her own centenarian grandmother.

Here’s a bit about the book:

Anna, a 35-year-old woman struggling to cope with the recent loss of her husband and desperately trying to get out of an emotional rut, receives an odd call one day from her estranged and feisty 85-year-old grandmother, Goldie Rosenthal. When Goldie invites Anna to accompany her on a trip across the country to return a collection of Japanese artwork to its original owner, a mysterious friend in San Francisco, Anna decides to put their differences aside and join the adventure. Goldie, however, is not upfront with Anna about the reason for the trip or the background of the artwork, and keeps these secrets to herself.

Through flashbacks to Goldie’s young adulthood as a Jewish American in San Francisco during the 1940s, readers are introduced to the Nakamura family. Goldie and Mayumi Nakamura work together at Feld’s, a luxury department store, and quickly become close friends. It’s not long before Goldie meets Mayumi’s sophisticated and outspoken brother, Henry, that the siblings introduce Goldie to a world of art, fashion, and culture that she had never imagined existed. Those joys evaporate, however, when Japan bombs Pearl Harbor. The attack puts the Nakamuras on the other side of an unbridgeable chasm of racism and paranoia that leads to their expulsion from San Francisco and subsequent internment in remote camps far from the coast. Just as her granddaughter Anna will have to find a way to leave heartbreak behind sixty years later, Goldie must learn to move on.

Booklist has said: “As with most well-crafted literary journeys, it’s not really about the destination, but this one does feature a sweetly surprising, cinematically styled twist at the end of the road. An ideal recommendation for the book-club set.”

Also, feel free to check out some of the reviews from the TLC Book Tours.

If these early responses and the book description have piqued your interest, please leave a comment below before Feb. 23, 2013, at 11:59 PM EST.  Must be a U.S. resident with a U.S. address to enter for 1 copy.

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Winners of The Realm of The Lost

February 14, 2013 by

The 2 winners of the ecopies of The Realm of the Lost by Emma Eden Ramos are:

Anna of Diary of an Eccentric

and

Julie of Booking Mama

Congrats to you both!  I hope you enjoy meeting Mikey and all the rest.

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Companion Club Recruiting NOW

February 7, 2013 by

the-takerThe Taker by Alma Katsu was a book I enjoyed for its paranormal elements, but also for its characters, Adair — who seemed like evil incarnate — and Lanore — a young woman obsessed with the local hottie. This novel is for adults, plain and simple, but it’s not just vampire or werewolf fluff. It is much more. A combination of historical fiction, paranormal magic, and romance, with a great nod to some literary greats, including a personal favorite of mine, Edgar Allan Poe. Check out more with my review.

 

RECKONINGThe Reckoning by Alma Katsu continues the journey of Lanore as she travels the globe and hide from Adair and his wrath. Believe me when I tell you that Adair is not an immortal man you want to make angry. For a second book, I was in awe — totally blown away by the characters and the story’s arc. Learn more with my review (though beware of spoilers).

Ok, so you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about these books and not about the final book, The Descent. I have to wait for its publication, that’s why!

In the meantime, I’ve joined Adair’s Companion Club! I’m actively soliciting companion’s for Adair and The Taker series because “50 shades” has nothing on him or these books.

As a companion, you get to talk about the books, promote local events where Adair and the books come together, and more. Check out the information on Alma Katsu’s blog to learn more and sign up for her newsletter.  Let us convert you with some decadence.

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Book News: Oprah’s ‘Super Soul Sunday’ on Feb. 3

January 31, 2013 by

Everyone knows how Oprah’s book club rejuvenated book sales across the country, but did you know that since moving to her new OWN network, she’s carried on with her book club.  Super Bowl Sunday, when husbands are preparing for the big game between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers, there’s more than just football on.

While I’m excited to say the Boston Celtics will be playing at 1 p.m., I’m equally excited that Oprah will have first-time author Ayana Mathis, who wrote The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, on her Super Soul Sunday show on Feb. 3, 2013, which will air 11 a.m. ET/PT on OWN. But readers and Oprah fans also can catch the interview on Oprah.com or Facebook.com/SuperSoulSunday.

About The Twelve Tribes of Hattie:

In 1923, fifteen-year-old Hattie Shepherd flees Georgia and settles in Philadelphia, hoping for a chance at a better life. Instead, she marries a man who will bring her nothing but disappointment and watches helplessly as her firstborn twins succumb to an illness a few pennies could have prevented.  Hattie gives birth to nine more children whom she raises with grit and mettle and not an ounce of the tenderness they crave.  She vows to prepare them for the calamitous difficulty they are sure to face in their later lives, to meet a world that will not love them, a world that will not be kind. Captured here in twelve luminous narrative threads, their lives tell the story of a mother’s monumental courage and the journey of a nation.

Mathis’ novel already has received praise from The New York Times, which said the novel “gracefully” tells of not only The Great Migration in the mid-1920s when 6 million African-Americans fled the Jim Crow South, but also the hardening of Hattie as she experiences loss.  As part of Oprah’s interview with Mathis, the women are expected to talk about the large soul-searching aspects of the novel, particularly the struggles experienced in parenting, loss, and survival.  Also, “in this revealing interview, Mathis shares how she overcame criticism and self-doubt, and went on to create her critically-acclaimed first novel.   She divulges who from her own life inspired the book’s heroine, Hattie Shepherd, and how she developed each supremely human character,” says HARPO studios.

Interested in a sneak peak?  Check it out.

For a sneak peek of “Oprah’s Book Club: Oprah and Ayana Mathis Author of ‘The 12 Tribes of Hattie’” below are the downloadable link:

URL (with embed code): http://www.oprah.com/own-supersoulsunday/blogs/Ayana-Mathis-Life-Today

Or check it out here:

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D.C. Area Book News: Politics & Prose Icon Retires

January 11, 2013 by

Today’s inaugural post about Washington, D.C., area book news is something I hope will become an occasional blog feature in 2013. I hope you find these posts interesting and that you’ll feel free to contribute book news or tidbits from the D.C. area — of course, I’ll credit you in the post if you supply some news.

Local bookstore and icon of the D.C. book scene, Politics & Prose, was founded in 1984 by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade, but the store was sold in 2011 to Bradley Graham and Lissa Muscatine after a failed sale in 2005. Barbara Meade has been serving as an advisor to the current owners since the sale, and her frequent presence in the store was welcomed by the store’s faithful patrons. Moreover, her advice helped foster a smooth transition to the new ownership and helped Muscatine and Graham establish their own foundations in the book business.

barbara meadeHowever, recently, Meade has told the staff and others that she was officially retiring to make more time for her own reading. In a letter to the book community, Meade said, “I’ve been so tightly wrapped up in Politics & Prose for the last 29 years that I’ll never be able to totally leave. . . . So I’ll continue my involvement in the store by hosting events, hanging out in the coffeehouse, and leisurely browsing what’s new on the bookshelves. You may even find me sitting in a chair somewhere in one of P&P’s inviting alcoves, trying out a chapter before I commit to a book purchase.” Her departure as an advisor means that the latest incarnation of Politics & Prose can spread its new wings and fly solo.

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Savvy’s Best of 2012 List

January 3, 2013 by

Of all the poetry I read in 2012, two books stayed with me the longest, and both were published in 2012. So while, I wanted to select one book for each genre I read, I opted to break the rule in the poetry category and highly recommend these two collections:

Both of these collections are powerful in the words and imagery the poets use to discuss not only family, but also the societal expectations and ethnic constraints their subjects face throughout history and int today’s world. These struggles continue to be present, real, and humbling. The poems in these collections strive to give readers pause — to collect their thoughts and to reform their own behavior.

In fiction, this is my top selection for the year:

Umrigar is an author who has yet to disappoint me with her work. She makes the Indian culture come alive for me. I loved this novel and its intricacies about social movements and idealism versus realities and cultural norms. And even when things can pull friends in different directions, there is often the pull of shared history that can hold them together.

In memoir — which I don’t often read a lot of because I don’t find it that enjoyable most of the time — this was my top selection and it shouldn’t be a surprise:

While this Vietnam War memoir is about Delmar Presley, it is also about the hardships that family members of war veterans often face given that violence and war has changed their loved ones into people they do not recognize or often understand. Christal’s experiment to engage with her father, his past in Vietnam, and their shared past is striking, engaging, and emotional. It’s a memoir that any war veteran, family member, or person dealing with PTSD should read.

In Young Adult Fiction, there is no one else’s book that could match Beth Kephart’s mastery of language, character, and setting for me. She tackles tough subject matter with a fine pen and a compassionate hand. So for me, the winner in this category was easily:

Finally, in the short story category, it was a tough choice for me as one of my favorite collections was finished earlier in the year, Tracks by Eric D. Goodman, and another later in the year, Enchantment by Thaisa Frank. But after a lot of thought, I chose Tracks because those characters just made me year to ride the rails with them and enjoy their journeys over again:

What books were on your best list for 2012?

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2012 Savvy’s Honorable Mentions

January 3, 2013 by

Want the 2012 Best of Savvy Verse & Wit’s reads? Submit a $5 payment to savvyverseandwit at gmail via PayPal, and we’ll email you the password for the list and you can come back and access it.

However, for those of you interested in those that just missed the list, these are my honorable mentions:

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Happy New Year 2013

January 1, 2013 by

We rung out 2012 with a 24-hour stomach bug here, and most of us were asleep or in the bathroom yesterday. But we all went to bed early and missed the ball drop, etc.

We seem to be a bit better today, so hopefully that is a good sign for 2013.

I hope you all had a great New Year’s celebration, and I want to apologize to Anna and our other guests with whom we had to cancel yesterday. I hope you all found alternate plans and fun. So sorry.

For those interested in the Savvy Verse & Wit best of list, it is coming soon at the same standard price of $5. Payment is accepted via PayPal and you’ll receive a password to access the list.

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Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

December 25, 2012 by

I just wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy holiday season!

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2013 War Through the Generations Theme Announced

December 14, 2012 by

Everyone is signing up for their 2013 challenges already, but here’s another for you to consider.

washington button

Click on the icon for more details.

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Poetry for Your 2012 Holiday Shopping List

December 7, 2012 by

Savvy Holidays!

I’m sure all of you have either completed or have nearly completed your holiday shopping, but I wanted to recommend a couple of poetry books for the readers on your lists.  These books are accessible and could widen the scope of reading of your loved ones and maybe even yourself.

Wild Place by Erica Goss is a stunning chapbook collection that visually renders the wildness within ourselves through a series of images stick with you long after you read the verse.  One look at that cover can tell you the kind of raw power Goss uses in her poetry to explore how humanity can impair nature, but she also talks a little bit about history, particularly in her poems about Berlin, and the hardships of emigrating to another country.  In my review, I said, “Wild and untamed, the verse sings the beauty in the blame as humanity encroaches on nature, sometimes leading to its destruction and at other times unveiling the beauty beneath the scars.”

 

When My Brother Was an Aztec by Natalie Diaz examines the often ignored struggles of Native Americans in the modern world, particularly as they try to integrate into mainstream society.  The kids who are around white students in school are looking to be like their peers, while at home, their parents trying to hold onto their cultural traditions.  Diaz has a frankness in her verse as she not only tackles drug addiction, but also Native American myths and ancestry.  While these poems are steeped in culture, there also is a universality to the lines that make them accessible to people of all cultures.  I consider Diaz’s book “a glimmering debut collection that hums in the back of the mind and generates an emotional aftermath that will leave readers speechless.”

Of the two Natasha Trethewey books I’ve read this year (though one was a reread), this is the one that has impressed me the most and has caused me to reassess some things.  Thrall is an even more mature combination of the personal and historical than Native Guard is.  While her earlier collection examines the struggles of a mixed race child, the latest collection builds upon those insights to create a wider historical record of mixed race children and how they are viewed by their parents and history.  My review indicated, “While her reading can enthrall you and bring you near tears, her careful word selection in each poem will ensure that you reflect on the meaning of each line in each verse before you even think about the overarching themes of separation and connection as well as their juxtaposition.”

I hope that you’ll consider these collections as you do your holiday shopping and have a great holiday, everyone.

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Poetry for the Holidays

November 29, 2012 by

Today, I’m over at Lost in Books talking about poetry for the holidays as part of the 2012 Holiday Post Extravaganza.

I was pleased when Rebecca said she was “entranced from the first paragraph” of my guest post.  I hope that means everyone else will be.

Please check out my post for 9:00 am today and check out the other posts she has planned throughout the holidays.

For those of you who have participated in the 2012 Fearless Poetry Reading Challenge, I hope you’ll comment here and let me know how you liked the challenge and if you have any suggestions for the 2013 challenge.

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