Hi bookworms, how are you today? I hope this April finds you well. From now on at the top of the blog, you will see this post. Each time a new newsletter is posted the link will change with the post. If you wish to receive an old issue just use this email listed below to obtain one:
Some housekeeping here. I am changing the title from the Weekly Newsletter of Nicole. It will be with the next newsletter. I don’t email often but I am trying to make it a monthly thing. I hope you enjoy it. It is normally just a recap of already posted articles and blog posts that did well and some new news. Also if you would like to subscribe you can do so using the link included in the newsletter. Just remember to subscribe you have to pay $1.00 and that $1.00 will pay for a lot. It will help pay the fees used to keep the blog(s) running. It will also go towards helping pay for gifts for those who subscribe and win them as well as items needed for the webinars offered. Here is the link for the latest newsletter:
Do remember that there will be a webinar coming soon. I am working on getting it together based on other webinars that I have attended and with information gleaned from my own experience.
I look forward to your subscription to the newsletter with the fee of $1.00 and also to your following. Thanks!
Hi. As you know I am a book reviewer and although I do receive payment most of my book reviews are free of charge. In order to offset some of the charges incurred I humbly request any and all donations, you wish to give me. My family and I sincerely thank you.
Hello, it’s Nicole and I am opening up this blog for my book reviews. I am still on Facebook but will be transferring the bulk of the reviews here. But I am still keeping the other page. You may see mirrored posts here signified by the phrase: “repost by…”. This is so you know that I am reposting my original content here. I am also going to post simultaneously on the Facebook page as well once I am able to set it up. So don’t think you missed anything. I am hoping my readers from my Facebook page will also read what is on here. I have 100% viewership right now on that page. I would like it to continue.
Stay tuned because I have a lot of reviews to post in the future. And I am hoping to get some author interviews as well as book reviews via video or in a vlog. I am so glad to continue this journey with you to read as many books as I can and review them with you. Please post comments following the review if you like to read it or if you already read the book and want to discuss. I can also sometimes lead you to a place to actually purchase the same if you are unable to find the book. Do not hesitate to contact me regarding that.
I want to close by saying that if you read a book you open your eyes to a world of dreamery. And sometimes dreamery keeps our days comfortable.
Hi book lovers, I apologize for the lateness of this post. It is book tour season and I have a lot of reviews to do. The reason for this late review post is that I had problems with too many books to read at the same time and it hasn’t lessened yet. But, never fear, I am here to leave you a review that will make you want to go out, buy and read the book.
For many the war in Afghanistan was fought and lost by America. But for the soldiers who fought there, the war had some victories and some losses. It also had tragedies played out by men on both sides of the conflict. This book is about such an incident.
Frodo was arrested due to an event that happened while he and Drake were waiting for Drake’s wife at a bar restaurant. When they were due to come home from assignment on foriegn soil, Frodo killed someone or he participated in the death of someone. Qari, a captured jihadi soldier was released from prison and sought to make the Americans pay for what happened in Afghanistan and against the Taliban.
Believing that it was a mistake and one that needed to be rectified, Drake sought the assistance of his fellow soldiers to find out what happened and where Frodo was. But at the same time, an interpeter, Zaafir, was requesting assistance to get out of the area as the Taliban had issued orders to take him to their leader alive. Fearing for his life and that of his family, he requested evacuation and safe passage to America or an ally country for him, his wife and their two children.
Fighting the Chinese, Taliban soldiers and remnants of the Afghan army, Drake, and his fellow soldiers fight to bring refugees who helped America during the conflict to safety while also rescuing Frodo from his trial. By the end of the novel, you will have read so much military speak, you will not need to look it up unlike me. But you will also get a feel for what it was really like for some people who fought overseas.
The words make it feel real and the feelings also as well.
I really liked this read because it made the war a little easier to understand, but it also made the men and women who fought it corporal.
I recommend this read for anyone who likes a good war story, a human story and a real-feel story.
I bet you want something free? I know I would. Well here is your chance to get an issue of the comic series Force and Sense for FREE!!
🎁 So here is one free gift for you. Go to www.forceandsense.com and fill out the contact form. You will receive a free issue of the Force and Sense comic book. It includes shipping and handling.
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This was an interesting read! Three stories in one all centering around a family of genies and their story.
Imagine if you could kill a genie? What would life be like? What if the genie had sons and they too were vulnerable? What if the story had never been told until now? You would have three interconnected stories ready for you to enjoy.
Three stories all interconnected telling the story of a family that became genies and their fights in their lives. Soleil was a genie through his father as were his brother Flarence. So too were Roy and Darren, plus Darren’s son Tyrell. All found a person who mattered to them but not all appears to be married.
In the first story the fight to learn what makes a genie a genie and survival starts with Soleil who asks his father to not forget who his children were when the time came to fight. A woman that he learned some witchcraft from Tituba, was tried for being a witch due to Jedediah’s desire to build a dark army. To save her he lost is physical self and became genie.
The fight continues in the second story with Jethro, Tyrell-son of Darren, and Catalina searching for what makes liquid soul, the seat of genie power work and what creates it. This liquid soul is what gives a genie their power. In the first story you learn how Soleil, Flarence, Darren, and Roy become genies. It all starts with Soleil and Flarence’s father. Carried down through generations, the family uses outside help in the form of dead animals to supply their liquid soul. But Roy comes after Tyrell to get information, maybe even the liquid soul. Not only does Roy but a new character in the form of Jocelyn who wishes to also find the key to liquid soul. But her journey does not give her that.
The story culminates and ends in the third story where Claire fights to keep the liquid soul from the hands of those who would misuse what her family asked her to learn about.
I really liked the three stories as they kept my interest. As a novel it is excellent but it wouldn’t have worked without the three stories told as they were. While there are a lot of characters each plays a part in finishing the story and moving on to the next. The scenery in each of the three stories is a great enveloper. You feel as if you are actually there.
I do have one question though in terms of a genie-none of them seem to grant any wishes but they do. Soleil gives Tituba peace upon her death. Tyrell helps in the end, Jocelyn to understand what liquid soul actually is. And Claire helps Bobby, Flarence and Claire find the key to creating liquid soul in order for their family and others to survive. Since that was their wish, why did it have to come at the price of destruction of life? I guess that is for the reader to decide.
I do recommend this story for young people to read from 13 on up.
Soleil is lost in time, launched through history at the hands of the Old Ticker. Now he is out of his element. He must adapt to his new home, hope it’s possible to return to his original time, and pray for a chance to correct some mistakes along the way.
Tyrell knows Flarence killed Darren. He wants revenge, though a mere human with limited resources has no chance of harming a Genie. But Roy’s body is failing to the point that not even Genie blood can sustain him. The cause of Roy’s slow death may give Tyrell the opportunity he needs to make Flarence suffer.
The Old Ticker’s designs have been leaked. Now they rest in deadlier hands and more mischievous minds. A pair of spell-casting revolvers were nothing compared with the new weapons being developed in secret. The Genies may have met their match when a scientist emerges armed with the most devastating firearm the world has ever known.
These three novellas are the culmination of the Mystic Rampage series—historical fiction, contemporary action, and near-future science fiction. Connecting them all is their shared theme of overcoming regrettable decisions to forge a brighter future.
ASIN : B0BNG99DKT
Publisher : Terra Nova Books (November 26, 2022)
Anomaly Aftermath is available in print and as an ebook at Amazon. You can add it to your GoodReads reading list as well.
About the Author, Hugh Fritz:
Hugh Fritz is thrilled to have completed his Mystic Rampage trilogy, a project eight years in the making. While writing the series he has outlined and written rough drafts of other stories ranging from horror to romance. He is currently bouncing between his works in progress, deciding which one should get his full attention. Whatever comes next will assuredly be a step in a whole new direction.
Check out this hashtag to stay up to date with this tour, the book, and its author: #anomalyaftermathfritz
——-Blog Tour Dates
May 1st @ The Muffin
What goes better in the morning than a muffin? Join us at the WOW blog to celebrate the launch of author Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. You can read an interview with the author and enter to win a copy of the book.
Lisa Haselton interviews author, Hugh Fritz about his recently released book: Anomaly Aftermath. You can read an interview with the author and learn more about the Mystic Rampage Series today on Lisa’s Blog!
You won’t want to miss Joy’s review of Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by A Wonderful World of Words today to learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
Author Hugh Fritz recently released the third and final book in the Mystic Rampage Series, Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Word Magic with Fiona Ingram to hear from Fritz today as he speaks about “Advertising and Finding an Audience” and delves into developing a pitch as an author.
Author Hugh Fritz recently released the third and final book in the Mystic Rampage Series, Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Choices with Madeline Sharples to hear from Fritz today as he speaks about “Developing a Pitch for a Book-to-Film Adaptation”.
You won’t want to miss fellow author Anthony Avina’s review of Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Author Anthony Avina’s blog today to learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
You won’t want to miss Nikki’s review of Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Nikki’s Book Review blog today to learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
You won’t want to miss Judy’s review of Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Knotty Needle Creative today to learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
Hear from a teenager about Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Bring on Lemons today to hear from Carmen Otto as she reviews the book and you can learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
Author Hugh Fritz recently released the third and final book in the Mystic Rampage Series, Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by World of My Imagination to hear from Fritz today as he speaks about “Returning to School to Seek an Advanced Degree”.
Author Hugh Fritz recently released the third and final book in the Mystic Rampage Series, Anomaly Aftermath. Storey Book Reviews to hear from Fritz today as he speaks about “What to do When the Series is Over”.
You won’t want to miss Glenda’s review of Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by The Mommies Reviews today to learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
You won’t want to miss Nicole Pyles’ review of Hugh Fritz’s Anomaly Aftermath. Stop by Lady Unemployed today to learn more about this third book in the Mystic Rampage Series!
Welcome to the Hope Always Rises blog tour! This book by Kathie Giorgio is perfect for anyone who has ever known someone who wanted to end their life, or anyone who has ever felt that way themselves. The blog tour starts on April 24th and lasts through May 21st.
About the Book
In Heaven, there is a gated community for those who end their lives by choice. This is a complete surprise to Hope, who ends her life one morning on the banks of the Fox River in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Hope has always dealt with deep sadness. From childhood on, she visited therapists, doctors, alternative medicine practitioners, Reiki artists, etc., to no avail. In Heaven, God reassures her that he knows what caused the sadness, but he won’t reveal it yet.
All community residents are required to attend weekly group therapy. Hope’s first group is led by Virginia Woolf. Several of the book’s chapters tell the stories of other members of this group.
Filled with many moments of striking humor, uplifting realizations, and difficult challenges, Hope finds her way in Heaven. She meets many people like herself, who help her restore her forgotten artistic talent and passion, and God himself, who is amazingly human in the most inhuman of ways. Hope finds understanding and forgiveness, and most importantly, friends.
I never knew God slept. I certainly never expected him to wear pajamas or have rumpled hair. But if he looked like the God I always imagined, the God with long white hair and a beard and a mustache and a serious, serious face, I never would have been able to rest my head on his shoulder, like I was able to do now.
I was very glad he wore blue flannel pajamas.
“You knew you couldn’t expect them to be happy, right, Hope? You knew that,” he said, and wrapped his arm around me. “It was part of your choice to end your life.”
I turned my face into his chest and wept.
It had been my choice. I didn’t expect them to be happy.
But I never thought I would witness their sadness.
For the first time, I regretted Heaven. I wished for the black void that I thought death might be, that day that I swallowed each pill with a gulp of wine.
“It’ll be okay, Hope,” God said. Not a booming voice from a burning bush or a dark cloud. A soft voice that soothed me as I cried.
Praise for Hope Always Rises
“Giorgio’s Hope Always Rises leaves the reader with the one thing it promises: hope. While tackling an emotional subject, suicide, Giorgio doesn’t shy away from the pain that brings her characters to the brink, but rather dives into the fragility, confusion, and motivations that accompany the human spirit on that difficult journey. Rich with empathy, humor, and imagination, Giorgio paints a beautiful picture of the afterlife that is a balm for anyone who has ever lost someone.”
–Marisa Dondlinger, author of Open and Gray Lines
“Hope Always Rises is a beautiful, heartfelt, and surprisingly funny take on the normally uncomfortable topic of suicide. Kathie Giorgio manages to balance Hope’s newfound peace and the harsh reality of the pain she left behind, so that the reader is happy to be pulled into the ups and downs with her.
– Nora Murray, author of Kingdom Come
“In Hope Always Rises, Giorgio’s detailed, surprising afterlife is populated with happiness, heartbreak, and small mercies in loving, ever-unfolding measure. Hope’s story, along with those of others in her section of Heaven, offers an intriguing variation on the theme of salvation, this one with a fallible God who enjoys a sangria.
– Angela Bier, author of The Accidental Archivist
About Author Kathie Giorgio
Kathie Giorgio is the author of seven novels, two story collections, an essay collection, and four poetry collections. Her latest novel, Hope Always Rises, will be released on February 28, 2023. She’s been nominated for the Pushcart Prize in fiction and poetry and awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, the Silver Pen Award for Literary Excellence, the Pencraft Award for Literary Excellence, and the Eric Hoffer Award In Fiction. Her poem “Light” won runner-up in the 2021 Rosebud Magazine Poetry Prize. In a recent column, Jim Higgins, the books editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, listed Giorgio as one of the top 21 Wisconsin writers of the 21st century. Kathie is also the director and founder of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop LLC, an international creative writing studio.
Blog Tour Calendar
April 24th @ The Muffin
Join us as we celebrate the blog tour launch of Hope Always Rises by Kathie Giorgio. You’ll have the chance to read an interview with the author and win a copy of the book.
This book, written by Kathie Giorgio, is a great read. However, this is a TRIGGER WARNING! for those who wish to purchase it. TRIGGER WARNING! TRIGGER WARNING! THIS BOOK DISCUSSES SUICIDE BY BOTH ADULTS AND CHILDREN. IF YOU ARE NOT YET READY TO DEAL WITH THE SUBJECT- PLEASE READ THE BOOK ANOTHER DAY!
Rating: 5 stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
Book blurb: “For now she need not think of anybody. She could be herself, by herself. And that was what now she often felt the need of-to think; well, not even to think. To be silent; to be alone.” p 138
Summary
Hope Sanders is the 43-year-old woman, the main character, who commits suicide; and lives in Heaven with God and other suicides. This book is hers and their journey.
Hope commits suicide one day underneath her favorite tree after her husband and kids have left the house. When she wakes up, she is in Heaven with God- living in a community full of suicides. Not sure if she should be there, Hope finds that every member in that community in Heaven has to attend therapy sessions while understanding the choice to commit suicide that person has made.
Hope committed suicide because she could no longer handle her “Gulf” and felt it was time to go. Throughout the book, you read about her struggle with the “rightness” of that decision. Throughout each person she meets there: Faith, Joyce, Buddy, Sarah, Owen, a 9-year-old boy, and his grandmother, including her father- she learns a little more about life and how each suicide played a part in their current situation. None of them are sad except when they come. All have stories that help Hope understand their place in Heaven while sometimes shedding light on her own.
In the end, Hope has come to terms with her choice of suicide, not seeing her son and daughter grow up while missing her mother. Hope has also come to terms with her understanding of her Gulf but still learning more as she grows. She ends the novel with a little more understanding of herself and her choice.
Analysis
While I liked this book, the topic of suicide is a trigger for me. But I loved that the author Kathie Giorgio places all suicides in Heaven in their community. And that they all have to come to terms with their choice and accept what their choice did, not just to them but to the people who were left behind.
I especially like that you have nothing to worry about in Heaven; your every need is anticipated and fulfilled if possible. My favorite is that the house or condominium you live in adjusts to your needs and wants as you adjust to your surroundings and accept what your eyes show you.
I also liked that Hope finally came to terms with her “Gulf” and her decision to- finally commit suicide, leaving behind her two children, a son, a daughter, and her husband. Reading her understanding and acceptance of- her missed opportunities is a great way to say you listen and pay attention.
But as they say, if a person wants to commit suicide-then the person will commit suicide eventually. And their life narrative is not necessarily defined by the events before the suicide as much as by what people find out afterward. As the author says-acceptance has to come from not only the people left behind but the suicide themselves.
Despite the trigger warning, I recommend this book to all who will buy it.
Headline: A good journey through one man’s life up until he got drafted in the Vietnam War
Review:
This journey starts with one man’s final understanding of the kind of man his father was. James Morgan, the author- understands who he has become; before college, he decided to be a math major but then changed majors to humanities. Never considering himself too bad a catch, he started making headways with the women.
His father worked hard to support his family, to add money to his bank account for him, his wife, and his son to be comfortable; his parents raised him to value education as a tool to further himself; speak his mind.
Throughout this novel, a young boy becomes an adult man who knows where he is going, at least for the moment.
This book is for those who like memoirs based on real-life stories.
It is a slow read; the suggestion is to read an excerpt, and if you like it, then buy the book.
Hi Bookworms. I have the great luck of being part of the book tour for Don Bentley’s The Forgotten War courtesy of Penguin Random House. His publish day is today April 25, 2023. So be on the lookout for the book.
As part of the book tour, I am presenting a book review to be posted shortly. But in the interim, I am posting an excerpt for your reading pleasure. So without further ado:
FORGOTTEN WAR Non-exclusive excerpt
“I have a warrant for Frodo’s arrest,” Julie said. “He’s coming with us. How that happens is up to you.”
“Let me see the warrant,” I said.
“Fuck off,” Fred said. “You’re not the subject of the warrant or his lawyer. We don’t have to show you shit.”
“That’s correct. You don’t,” Rawlings said, his disembodied voice ringing through the bar, “but I’m asking that you to share it with me, as a professional courtesy.”
“Why?” Fred said.
“Because you’re in my city,” Rawlings said, “and that’s how things are done. Or I can ask my friends at Austin PD to pull you over for a traffic violation and develop probable cause for a body cavity search while I make some calls. Choose wisely.”
“This is bullshit,” Meathead said.
“Welcome to the big leagues, kid,” Rawlings said. “Read me the warrant or one of Austin’s finest checks you for hernia.”
The flush that had begun in Fred’s thick neck had now reached his jowly cheeks. He opened his mouth, but Julie’s smooth alto cut through whatever he’d planned to say.
“We’re happy to extend professional courtesy,” Julie said, even though the look she gave me suggested otherwise. “I’ll send you a copy of the warrant once we’ve taken the prisoner into custody. He’s being arrested for a murder that took place in Afghanistan in 2011.”
Afghanistan?
I hadn’t seen that coming.
“Bullshit,” I said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“Matty,” Frodo said.
“I don’t know how else to say this,” Julie said, “but we’re not here for you, Mr. Drake.”
“We were in Afghanistan together,” I said. “He didn’t murder anyone.”
“Matty,” Frodo said, his voice more forceful.
“The warrant sounds legit, Matt,” Rawlings said. “I can take a look when I get there, but—”
“Not happening,” Julie said. “You asked for professional courtesy, and I gave it. Now my partner and I are walking out of here with Mr. Cates. End of story.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, squaring off with Julie, “but unless you’ve got five more friends waiting outside, Frodo’s not going anywhere.”
Julie’s eyes blazed.
Whatever.
Frodo and I weren’t just friends. I’d been in the seat next to him when an explosively formed penetrator had ended his career as a commando and nearly his life. He was my brother. No way was he leaving here in handcuffs.
“Matty!”
I turned to see Frodo standing beside me.
“I’ll go with them,” Frodo said.
“You can’t—,” I said.
“I love you man, but you make a mule look compliant. We both know I’m going with them.”
“Not happening.”
“Damn it, boy,” Frodo said. “Think. What good will you be sitting in the jail cell next to mine? Let me go and do your thing.”
Frodo squeezed my shoulder and then slipped past me.
“I’ve got only one hand,” Frodo said, offering right arm to Julie. “Not sure how your cuffs are going to work.”
“We’ve got that covered,” Fred said, grabbing Frodo by the shoulder and spinning him around.
The CID agent took a pair of specialty restraints from his pocket. He fastened one on Frodo’s wrist and the other to the stump just above this prothesis. “Don’t expect any special treatment because of your injury. You’re a war criminal. Period.”
Frodo.
A war criminal.
If there were any two sentences in the English language more incongruent, I couldn’t think of them. Though he never talked about it, Frodo had been awarded the Silver Star for an operation in Afghanistan during which he and another Unit sniper had saved the lives of four SEALs. What he had done that day was legendary in the special operations community.
Frodo had never seen fit to mention it to me, even though we’d been running and gunning together for more than a decade. The information had come to light only when a SEAL had asked him about it in my presence. I’m not saying that Frodo was perfect, but war criminals were by and large cowards, thugs who preyed on the helpless.
Once again, I am back with a review of the second comic book in the Force and Sense Save America series.
I liked this comic book because it deals with the reality of the government attempting to put money back into the education system to teach our children; this storyline has a woman at the helm who has been an active participant in that journey, not only as a politician; but a teacher.
The illustrations show what the world is like, the two of them running the country and people filled with hope that life will be good. The work of the president and vice president now starts.
The two create a committee to determine ways to fabricate money and use it to mold a better educational system with enough money to sustain the programs for years.
By the end of the comic book, these two do what our- the actual government has been trying to do for years.
In a word, yes! I first glanced at this comic book and saw newspaper headings and news show reels right before me. Most memorable for me was the George Floyd murder by the cop on his neck cutting off his oxygen. I remember they said he asked for his mother before he passed. That is a very shocking moment for everyone in the world.
The idea that women should lead the country has been arranged for many years, evidenced by the many women who ran for office in the last election. Now, there is a black female vice president. There are female governors, senators, and congresswomen. Women for many years were only allowed as teachers, nurses, and mothers: safe jobs. Currently, they are in active military service and are single parents.
Is it any wonder that a world could be run by someone with common sense and the ability to do what is best for all? Is not that what a mother is supposed to be for so many? And yet, every woman has one moment where they fall far short of that ideal.
What I like the most about this comic book is that the frames show major events like school shootings and protests. At the same time, the picture frames; show families having a good time and prospering. Yes, there are differences in money, but that is real life.
This comic is real life; why not buy it right now?
Nikki's Book Reviews 