The Printed Page

Title: Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement Author/website: Irene Spencer 330 pages Publisher: Center Street Publication date: August ’09 Genre: Memoir Would I recommend it: Definitely Journal notes: I read her first book, Shattered Dreams, last year and it made my favorite books list. The subject matter in both these books is beyond fascinating. Cult Insanity will also be going onto my favs list. There’s not really a lot I can add, as her books say it all, except if your interest has ever been piqued in any way by the stories surrounding the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints practices you need to read her books. Her story is an incredible tale of survival in the most bizarre circumstances. I realize to the followers of this faith your religious practices don’t seem bizarre but for those of us on the outside looking in things come across as very foreign and in direct opposition to most mainstream beliefs. I can almost guarantee that once you start reading Cult Insanity you won’t be able to close the book until you’ve turned the last page. You don’t have to but I suggest you read Shattered Dreams before reading Cult Insanity. (I also highly recommend Escape by Carolyn Jessop)

Life for Irene Spencer was a series of devastating disappointments and hardships. Irene’s first book, Shattered Dreams, is the staggering chronicle of her struggle to provide for her children in abject poverty and feelings of abandonment each time her husband left to be with one of his other wives. Irene was raised to believe polygamy was the way of life necessary for her ticket to heaven.

The hard knocks of her environment were just the beginning of Irene’s shocking tale. Insanity ran rampant in her husband’s family and was the source of inconceivable events that unfolded throughout Irene’s adult life. CULT INSANITY takes readers deeper into her story to uncover the outrageous behavior of her brother-in-law Ervil — a self-proclaimed prophet who determined he was called to set the house of God in order — and how he terrorized their colony. Claiming to be God’s avenger and to have a license to kill in the name of God, Ervil ordered the murders of friends and family members, eliminating all those who challenged his authority.

For those who were gripped by Shattered Dreams, the rest of the story will blow them away. CULT INSANITY is a riveting, terrifying memoir of polygamist life under the tyranny of a madman.

(Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement was provided to me by Anna of Hachette Book Group. I was not paid and the book is being shipped to another book blogger. )

Title: What Remains of Heaven (book 5 in the Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery series) Author: C.S. Harris Publication date: November ’09 Genre: Historical mystery

London 1812. When the controversial reform-minded Bishop of London is found bludgeoned to death in an ancient crypt beside the corpse of an unidentified man murdered decades before, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, reluctantly agrees to help with the investigation.

To Sebastian’s consternation, the last person to see the Bishop alive was Miss Hero Jarvis, a woman whose already strained relationship with St. Cyr has been complicated by a brief, unexpectedly passionate encounter. As his search for the killer leads him from the back allies of Smithfield to the power corridors of Whitehall, Sebastian must confront the well-guarded secrets of his own family’s past—and a devastating truth that could ultimately force him to question who—and what—he really is.

***

I’ve read the first two books in this series, What Angels Fear and When Gods Die and book three Why Mermaids Sing is loaded on my Kindle.

Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?

Title: Nibble & Kuhn Author/website: David Schmahmann 288 pages Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers Publication date: November ’09 Genre: Fiction – legal Would I recommend it: Undecided Journal notes: If you like your legal stories high-octane than Nibble and Kuhn is not the book for you. I prefer my legal thrillers along the lines of a Jerry Burckhemier movie or TV series. Something that gets my pulse pounding and heart racing. Something to entice me to turn pages faster than I can read them. A story that puts me on the edge of my seat wondering just exactly how the lead character is going to get themselves out of their latest predicament. Those types of situations aren’t anywhere to be found in this story. Nibble and Kuhn is more like watching a smooth flowing summer river. The story meanders along through Derek’s personal and work life barely moving a hair out of place. This is one of those stories that was decent but doesn’t make an impression. By this time next week it will be a distant memory.

The novel is a satire of the law (the point of the story that I missed), and follows two newcomers—and paramours—at a proper corporate law firm in Boston as it comically tries to rebrand itself for the Google era; exposing the deep disaffection people feel about the practice of law and the seemingly irrational way in which the law is often applied.

An unraveling law firm. An unwinnable case. An unworkable love.

Derek Dover has it all.

Derek’s up for partner at Nibble & Kuhn just as that most proper of Boston law firms comically tries to `rebrand’ itself for the Google era. Pompous and arbitrary, the ruling junta of partners saddles him with a high visibility lawsuit just weeks before trial. The diligent young attorney arranges things so that Maria Parma, a new associate in the firm for whom he’s fallen hard, also gets named to the case. Maria, in turn, can’t keep her hands off Derek, but it’s complicated because she’s engaged to someone else.

As Derek prepares his case on behalf of seven young victims of an industrial polluter, his anxieties about his career and his torments over Maria’s mixed messages only increase. Have his eccentric WASP superiors handed him a `toxic’ case to ruin his chances of becoming a partner? How can he get his opponents to settle – an outcome the presiding judge all but demands – unless his unorthodox `expert witnesses’ perform with enough gravitas to match that of the other side with its Harvard Medical School scientist? Will Nibble & Kuhn survive the partners’ spectacularly bad business judgments? Does it even matter to Derek, given that his looming fiasco of a trial and his indiscretions with Maria seem set to sink any chance he ever had at partnership?

Ultimately, Derek sets into motion a line of inquiry that spins events entirely out of the control of the judge, jury, and any and all attorneys.

(Nibble & Kuhn pdf file was provided to me by Jacob of Academy Chicago Publishers. I was not paid and the pdf file has been removed from my Kindle. )

I’m a very visual person and love beautiful, or interesting, cover art. It entices, and invites, me to stop and take a peek instead of walking right on by. This week’s Cover Attraction is: Title: The Queen’s Mistake: In the Court of Henry VIII Author: Diane Haeger Release date: October ’09 (yesterday 10/6)

When young and beautiful Catherine Howard becomes the fifth wife of fifty year old king Henry VIII, she seems to be on top of the world. Yet her reign is destined to be brief and heartbreaking, as she is forced to do battle with enemies far more powerful and calculating than she could have ever anticipated in a court where one wrong move could mean her destruction. Wanting only love, Catherine is compelled to deny her heart’s desire in favor of her family’s ambition. But in so doing, she unwittingly gives those who seek to bring her down a most effective weapon, her own romantic past.

The Queen’s Mistake is the tragic tale of one passionate and idealistic woman who struggles to negotiate the intrigues of the court and the yearnings of her own heart.

***

I haven’t posted a historical fiction cover in a while as my Cover Attraction though I’ve been admiring this one since I first saw it several months ago. Also with the amount of historical fiction I’ve read over the last two years I haven’t read any by Diane Haeger so I should probably remedy that. And lastly I’ve come to realize that this is my absolute favorite royal family and court to read about so I’m betting that this will be on my Kindle quite soon (Jennifer – did that get your attention? ). I’m really just wanting for some of those famous Amazon stars to start popping up.

What’s your favorite cover attraction this week? Don’t forget to leave a link to your Cover Attraction post.

Title: Light of the Desert Author/website: Lucette Walters 583 pages Publisher: AuthorHouse Publication date: August ’07 Genre: General fiction Would I recommend it: Probably not as I didn’t finish it DNFing @ pg. 303. I read way more than I should have. My thoughts are the complete opposite of what you’ll find at Amazon. This book is a solid 5 stars over there and I didn’t finish it. I got just a touch of over half way and couldn’t face reading another 300 pages of Noora’s story. I did have high hopes for this story and was very much looking forward to reading it. It starts off exactly as I expected from reading the book blurb. I diligently followed Noora’s story along its twisting, turning journey. The more I read the less interested I became. Just a taste of Noora’s life about mid way through the story: she’s discovered hiding in a state room from a lecherous ship’s captain and jumps overboard; washing up on shore she’s taken in by a very nice french girl; while working as a maid at a high-end hotel she saves an overbearing movie mogul from career suicide; He hires her on the spot to be his personal assistance which really doesn’t amount to very much. After all that’s happened to Noora in the first half of this story what next dire situation will she find herself tangled up in? And the bodyguard who is supposedly stalking Noora well he just disappears for chapters and when he is around it’s very breifly. It all just began to read the same – Noora’s in trouble, Noora’s saved, repeat again and again and again. So was I reading the same story as all those reviewers at Amazon? I think I was but there wasn’t any gripping, compelling sense of urgency for me to see Noora’s journey through to its end.

Noora, the favorite daughter of a powerful and influential Middle-Eastern Businessman is unjustly accused of sexual misconduct and falls victim of “honor killing” at the hands of her father. Unbeknownst to him, she survives and the remarkable story of Noora, Light of the Desert, begins as she crosses dangerous paths. While she still hopes to return one day to her beloved homeland and prove her innocence, Noora faces yet another obstacle: She is relentlessly stalked by her former bodyguard, a fundamentalist who discovered she is still alive and vows to bring her back to “justice.” Follow Noora on this amazing journey of survival and courage.

(Light of the Desert was provided to me by Scott of Westwind Communications. I was not paid and the book is being shipped to another book blogger. )

Dear Mr. Cleland,

Thank you, in all seriousness, for making my Monday. After having the mother of all Mondays at work I logged on to BookBlips and came across your interview regarding the new FTC regulations for book bloggers. My, my, my didn’t you go and cause a lot of trauma and drama in the book blogging community. I’m sure you really didn’t mean to do so but we are a very passionate group so you might want to tread lightly amongst us. Trauma and drama is very much not my thing so I’ll leave it others to debate this hot button topic and a fine job they’ll do. While you won’t be curing cancer, solving global warming or tackling a myriad of other alarming and serious issues you have chosen to assist the unemployed here in the US. Just think about that army of employees you’ll need for rules enforcement. Heck you may even bring an end to our economic slump.

It was only a matter of time before the government took a look at the book community. They’ve already faced off with music and movie downloading so free books were bound to catch someone’s attention.

Thank heavens I don’t hoard my books. I knew the day would come when those towering TBR piles of ARCs would lead to my demise. I thought it would be from suffocation as I was crushed by my beloved books and not from some faceless person who ferreted out my humble book blog because I did the unforgivable, by government standards, I reviewed a book sent to me by an author or publicist and kept it! Mostly I feel sorry for all my book loving friends who build libraries in their homes. They can’t imagine not being surrounded by their books and now you want them to send them back or pass them on. For some that is like cutting off a hand or saying goodbye to a loved one. And most likely it isn’t gonna happen no matter how much you wish it would. For the love of Pete and everyone else have you nothing better to do with your time?

And lastly Mr. Cleland you’ve unintentionally gone and made me look really, really smart. Now that’s hard to do but you did. Several months ago I formally instituted my Read It Forward program. I had been passing my books along to friends but wanted to share more openly with the book blogging community and thank those readers who visit my blog. Books and our thoughts about those books are meant to be shared. Thanks to my Read It Forward program I no longer keep my review books choosing instead to find them loving new homes where they’ll be appreciated. So I guess you won’t be able to ding me on that rule.

Best wishes,

Marcia

P.S. maybe the new rules and regs will encourage authors and publicists to send me pdf files that I can download to my Kindle for review instead of print editions. Once I’ve finished reading the file I’ll simply remove it from my Kindle and, poof, no more ‘book’.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week (checked out library books don’t count, eBooks & audio books do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

If you’re new to Mailbox Monday welcome! Thank you to everyone who stops by Mailbox Monday. Whether you comment or visit I appreciate your taking the time to drop in.

***

Am I Not A Man? The Dred Scott Story by Mark L. Shurtleff (new-to-me author/publicist contact)

An illiterate slave, Dred Scott trusted in an all-white, slave-owning jury to declare him free. But after briefly experiencing the glory of freedom and manhood, a new state Supreme Court ordered the cold steel of the shackles to be closed again around his wrists and ankles. Falling to his knees, Dred cried, “Ain’t I a man?” Dred answered his own question by rising and taking his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Dred ultimately lost his epic battle when the Chief Justice declared that a black man was so inferior that he had “no rights a white man was bound to respect.”

Dred died not knowing that his undying courage led directly to the election of President Abraham Lincoln and the emancipation proclamation.

Dred Scott’s inspiring and compelling true story of adventure, courage, love, hatred, and friendship parallels the history of this nation from the long night of slavery to the narrow crack in the door that would ultimately lead to freedom and equality for all men.

Across the Endless River by Thad Carhart (new-to-me author/publicist contact) (Claimed by Katy)

Born in 1805 on the Lewis and Clark expedition, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau was the son of the Voyage of Discovery’s translators, Sacagawea and Toussaint Charbonneau. Across the Endless River evokes the formative years of this mixed-blood child of the frontier, entering the wild and mysterious world of his boyhood along the Missouri. Baptiste is raised both as William Clark’s ward in St. Louis and by his parents among the villages of the Mandan tribe on the far northern reaches of the river.

In 1823 eighteen-year-old Baptiste is invited to cross the Atlantic with the young Duke Paul of Württemberg, whom he meets on the frontier. During their travels throughout Europe, Paul introduces Baptiste to a world he never imagined. Increasingly, Baptiste confronts the limitations of life as an outsider; only Paul’s older cousin, Princess Theresa, understands the richness of his heritage. Their affair is both passionate and tender, but Theresa’s clear-eyed notions of love, marriage, and the need to fashion one’s own future push Baptiste to consider what he truly needs. In Paris he meets Maura Hennesy, the beautiful and independent daughter of a French-Irish wine merchant. Baptiste describes his life on the fast-changing frontier to Maura, and she begins to imagine a different destiny with this enigmatic American. Baptiste ultimately faces a choice: whether to stay in Europe or to return to the wilds of North America. His decision will resonate strongly with those who today find themselves at the intersection of cultures, languages, and customs.

Even Money by Dick & Felix Francis (new-to-me authors/publicist contact)

Bookmaker Ed Talbot is struggling with his wife’s mental illness, even as technology threatens to give the big bookmaking outfits an insurmountable advantage over his small family business. Soon after a man shows up at Ascot and identifies himself as Ed’s father, Peter, whom Ed believed long dead, a thug demanding money stabs Peter to death. Ed is in for even more shocks when he learns his father was the prime suspect in his mother’s murder—and that Peter’s killing, rather than a random act of violence, may be linked to a mysterious electronic device used in some horse-racing fraud. Ed must juggle his amateur investigations into past and present crimes with his demanding family responsibilities.

***

What books came into your house last week? Don’t forget to leave a link to your Mailbox post or a list of books if you don’t have a blog.

***

Read It Forward details

UK Cover

Title: Breathless Author: Dean Koontz Publication date: November ’09 Genre: Suspense/thriller

US Cover

Grady Adams lives a simple, solitary life deep in the Colorado mountains. Here the thirty-five-year-old carpenter works out of a converted barn, crafting exquisite one-of-a-kind furniture. There’s little about this strong yet gentle man to suggest the experiences that have alienated him from the contemporary world. But that is about to change.

One day, while hiking, Grady spots a pair of stunningly beautiful furred animals unlike anything he’s ever seen. They flee the instant they detect his presence, but the mystery of that brief encounter remains. In the days ahead, Grady will approach the creatures again, gaining their trust but coming no closer to solving their mystery. For this he enlists the help of an old friend, veterinarian Camellia ‘Cammy’ Rivers, who, in turn, is stunned – and enchanted – by Grady’s new ‘pets.’ But while Grady and Cammy carefully observe these enigmatic animals for clues to their origin, they, too, are being watched.

Soon Grady’s home and hundreds of square miles of surrounding wilderness will be placed under quarantine by Homeland Security. And Grady, Cammy, and the two creatures they’ve come to feel they must protect at all costs find themselves virtual prisoners – and the unwilling focus of an army of biologists, naturalists, and research scientists. But it’s a stunning event no one could have foreseen that convinces Grady and Cammy to do the unthinkable: to escape with the two creatures on a riveting race for freedom.

***

Jill at Breaking the Spine hosts Waiting on Wednesday. Stop by and check out the great books your fellow readers can’t wait to get their hands on. What book are you waiting for?