The Printed Page

Archive for December, 2009

Title: City of Dragons: A San Francisco Mystery
Author: Kelli Stanley
Release date: February ‘10

February, 1940. In San Francisco’s Chinatown, fireworks explode as the city celebrates Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party, a three day-and-night carnival designed to raise money and support for China war relief. Miranda Corbie is a 33-year-old private investigator who stumbles upon the fatally shot body of Eddie Takahashi. The Chamber of Commerce wants it covered up. The cops acquiesce. All Miranda wants is justice–whatever it costs. From Chinatown tenements, to a tattered tailor’s shop in Little Osaka, to a high-class bordello draped in Southern Gothic, she shakes down the city–her city–seeking the truth.

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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?

I took my first Bookation last October. It was a wonderful and much needed break from reading review copies and putting fingers to keyboard in hopes of turning out words that vaguely resembled some form of a review. After barely cracking open a book in November due to traveling outside the US and playing catch up in December I really shouldn’t be taking a Bookation but I don’t believe in denying myself vacations or Bookations. I’ve decided to modify January’s Bookation just a bit so as not to get too far behind in clearing the bookcase of my remaining review books. Yep you read correctly my goal is to have the majority of my review books read by mid-February. In keeping with my goal of doing much more pleasure than review reading in 2010 January’s Bookation is a combo of pleasure and review reading. Several of the books sitting on the bookcase are review books that are the second or third in a series. As I’m more than bit obsessive about reading series in order I get pleasure of trying new authors, exploring new series and reading in my two favorite genres. Does a Bookation get much better? I think not. And I’m getting a head start on 2010’s reading. As it’s not possible for me to finish another book this year I’m starting one day early with Knight of Desire (All the King’s Men, book 1) by Margaret Mallory. Sexy historical romance. I’d say it’s a great way to start the new year.

Title: Honolulu
Author/website(s): Alan Brennert
368 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication date: March ‘09
Genre: Fiction w/historical setting & aspects
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Definitely; I also highly recommended his other novel Moloka’i
Would I read more from this author: Looking forward to whatever he writes next.
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

“Honolulu” is the richly imagined story of Jin, a young ‘picture bride’ who leaves her native Korea – where girls are so little valued that she is known as Regret – and journeys to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the prosperous young husband and the chance at an education she has been promised, Jin is quickly married off to a poor, embittered labourer who takes his disappointments out on his new wife, forcing her to make her own way in a strange land. Struggling to build a business with the help of her fellow picture brides, Jin finds both opportunity and prejudice, but ultimately transforms herself from a naive young girl into a resourceful woman. Prospering along with her adopted city, which is fast growing from a small territorial capital to the great multicultural city it is today, Jin can never forget the people she left behind in Korea, and returns one last time to make her peace with her former life.

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. Here’s a cover that caught my eye.
Title: Honolulu
Author: Alan Brennert
Release date: March ‘09

Hardback Cover

Softback Cover

LP Edition Cover

“Honolulu” is the richly imagined story of Jin, a young ‘picture bride’ who leaves her native Korea – where girls are so little valued that she is known as Regret – and journeys to Hawaii in 1914 in search of a better life. Instead of the prosperous young husband and the chance at an education she has been promised, Jin is quickly married off to a poor, embittered labourer who takes his disappointments out on his new wife, forcing her to make her own way in a strange land. Struggling to build a business with the help of her fellow picture brides, Jin finds both opportunity and prejudice, but ultimately transforms herself from a naive young girl into a resourceful woman. Prospering along with her adopted city, which is fast growing from a small territorial capital to the great multicultural city it is today, Jin can never forget the people she left behind in Korea, and returns one last time to make her peace with her former life.

Title: Black Hills
Author/website(s): Nora Roberts
480 pages
Publisher: Putnam Adult
Publication date: July ‘09
Genre: Fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Probably
Would I read more from this author: Her mainstream fiction and In Death series are auto-buy for me
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review though I thought it was much better than Tribute which I didn’t like very much.

A summer at his grandparents’ South Dakota ranch is not eleven-year-old Cooper Sullivan’s idea of a good time. But things are a bit more bearable now that he’s discovered the neighbor girl, Lil Chance, and her homemade batting cage. Even horseback riding isn’t as awful as Coop thought it would be. Each year, with Coop’s annual summer visit, their friendship deepens from innocent games to stolen kisses, but there is one shared experience that will forever haunt them: the terrifying discovery of a hiker’s body.

As the seasons change and the years roll, Lil stays steadfast to her dreams of becoming a wildlife biologist and protecting her family land, while Coop struggles with his father’s demand that he attend law school and join the family firm. Twelve years after they last walked together hand in hand, fate has brought them back to the Black Hills when the people and things they hold most dear need them most.

An investigator in New York, Coop recently left his fastpaced life to care for his aging grandparents and the ranch he has come to call home. Though the memory of his touch still haunts her, Lil has let nothing stop her dream of opening the Chance Wildlife Refuge, but something . . . or someone . . . has been keeping a close watch. When small pranks and acts of destruction escalate into the heartless killing of Lil’s beloved cougar, recollections of an unsolved murder in these very hills have Coop springing to action to keep Lil safe.

Lil and Coop both know the natural dangers that lurk in the wild landscape of the Black Hills. But now they must work together to unearth a killer of twisted and unnatural instincts who has singled them out as prey.

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.

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No books in my mailbox this week. But my Santas were very nice this year and my Amazon account is nice and fat. Now I just have to figure out what I really want from my overloaded WL.

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Again this year I’m supporting Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign. For every link to a Mailbox Monday post left here at The Printed Page from now through end of the January I will contribute .50¢ to Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign.

Can you help build a refugee camp library? For $2 you can, and you can even turn your donation in honor of someone into a last-minute holiday gift.

Book Wish Foundation’s holiday campaign for 2009 asks book lovers everywhere to contribute one of the 5000 bricks we need to build a library for Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad. Since Dec. 5, we have raised 821 bricks, 16% of our goal. Please join the effort, even with a single brick, by visiting: Library Builder

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What books came into your house last week? Don’t forget to fill out Mister Linky or leave a comment with a list of books if you don’t blog. If you’re interested in Read It Forward you will need to leave a comment in addition to filling out Mister Linky.

• In the “Your name:” box, please enter either your name or your blog’s name.

• In the “Your URL:” box please enter the URL/link that will lead directly to the post you are submitting (also called the permalink). This is not the URL to the blog’s home page.

** It appears that Mr. Linky is hungry this morning and eating links or being fussy and not taking new links. If you link doesn’t work please leave a comment with the link. My apologies to everyone **

Mailbox Monday Participants

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Read It Forward details

Reprint Cover 2007

Title: To Dance with Kings (I read the Kindle edition which is no longer available at Amazon)
Author/website(s): Rosalind Laker
624 pages
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Publication date: May ‘07 (original publication date: 1988)
Genre: Historical fiction
Review book or pleasure reading: Pleasure reading
New-to-me author: No
Would I recommend this book: Yes – I loved it
Would I read more from this author: I would
Journal notes: Pleasure reading – no review.

Original Cover 1988

Set during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XVI, the sweeping saga takes place mainly in the Chateau of Versailles and the surrounding town from which the magnificent edifice took its name. The narrative is enriched with intriguing period details, and beautifully paced with fast-moving events, drama and romance. Spanning four generations, the protagonists are the women of one family, named, in turn, Marguerite, Jasmin, Violette and Rose, all of whose destinies are entwined with those of their monarchs as well as the dashing men who bring them love and heartache. Involving her heroines in the art of fan-making, Laker interpolates fascinating information about the fashions of the time and the codes of social etiquette. The sybaritic luxuries of the French Court are set against the brutalities of the Huguenot persecution and the barbaric excesses of the Revolution.

To some people
they’re just bits of paper
glued to a fragile spine

But to me they are friends
welcoming me at any time
opening up their hearts
to show me their secrets

I laugh with them
I cry with them

they’ve let me into
the lives of so many
people with fantastic lives
people who have grand adventures
and for a few hours
I forget
That I’m just me

View free-feather’s portfolio at Deviant Art

View Tammara’s portfolio at Redbubble or Deviant Art

L to R: DD with momma Callie

It is with deep sadness that we say to goodbye to a beloved family member. I never imagined I’d be writing my second post like this in as many months. DD started exhibiting the same symptoms as Daisy. While we were uncertain, but had some educated ideas, of what Daisy might have passed from we now know that both contracted Feline Leukemia. We will be testing the rest of the feline family next Tuesday.

DD was the treat & tuna lover in the family. Constantly begging dad to feed him. He is survived by his human parents, his mother Callie and several other feline family members. Sweet boy rest in peace.