A Bookworm Reads

Beastmaster: Myth
400 p, Pocket Books, Isbn-1439144176

In an epic journey across the mystical lands of Ancor, a lone warrior confronts a sinister power from beyond the stars -- forced to stake his very survival on the aid of his companions: a soaring eagle, a fearsome tiger, and two cunning, quick ferrets.

Blessed with an extraordinary gift to commune with animals, yet haunted by his own legacy and tragic past, Dar has become champion of his world and its natural riches. But when an unyielding force of evil and carnage descends upon his gentle existence, he must emerge from a spiritual journey and embark upon a dreadful voyage. Will Dar become the savior Ancor so desperately needs, or will his world be subjected to an evil that leaves no innocent unharmed -- human or beast? And when a striking figure from Dar's past reappears, can she help him salvage his broken spirit?
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Divine Misdemeanors: A Novel (Meredith Gentry, Book 8)
352 p, Ballantine Books, Isbn-0345495969

You may know me best as Meredith Nic Essus, princess of faerie. Or perhaps as Merry Gentry, Los Angeles private eye. In the fey and mortal realms alike, my life is the stuff of royal intrigue and celebrity drama. Among my own, I have confronted horrendous enemies, endured my noble kin’s treachery and malevolence, and honored my duty to conceive a royal heir—all for the right to claim the throne. But I turned my back on court and crown, choosing exile in the human world—and in the arms of my beloved Frost and Darkness.

While I may have rejected the monarchy, I cannot abandon my people. Someone is killing the fey, which has left the LAPD baffled and my guardsmen and me deeply disturbed. My kind are not easily captured or killed. At least not by mortals. I must get to the bottom of these horrendous murders, even if that means going up against Gilda, the Fairy Godmother, my rival for fey loyalties in Los Angeles.

But even stranger things are happening. Mortals I once healed with magic are suddenly performing miracles, a shocking phenomenon wreaking havoc on human/faerie relations. Though I am innocent, dark suspicions of banned magical activities swirl around me.

I thought I’d left the blood and politics behind in my own turbulent realm. I had dreamed of an idyllic life in sunny L.A. with my beloved ones beside me. But it becomes time to wake up and realize that evil knows no borders, and that nobody lives forever—even if they’re magical.
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The Cost of Dreams by Gary Stelzer
296p, Decent Hearts Press, Isbn-1936073005

This is a tale about the extraordinary fate and survival of a young woman fleeing the cataclysm of civil war in Central America, and about the strangers who risk everything to rescue and mend her.

Kate Bowman, in her mid-forties, travels to Central America with her brother’s favorite son, a tall handsome 22-year-old engineering graduate from the University of Illinois. Bowman, a wildlife biologist from the upper Midwest, teaches literacy classes in the midst of a three-week long medical aid mission sponsored by healthcare teams from Chicago and California.  The moment Andrew Gustafson sets foot in the village of Talapa, a young Mayan teen named Flora Enriquez follows his every move, enthralled by him.  The small dark eyed girl demonstrates for Kate Bowman that she already reads, taught by a priest two years prior, even inheriting the deceased clergyman’s books.

Andrew quickly discovers his own project, planning and preparing for the installation of a hydroelectric turbine on the village stream to deliver electricity to the remote community in the land of volcanoes.  He declines to travel home with his aunt and the rest of the aid party, insisting on remaining in the dangerous and beautiful jungle highlands.  Sick at heart, Kate boards a plane to return to her home on northern Lake Michigan, terrified for her nephew left behind in a country convulsing in a murderous civil war.

Then the midnight call comes from the aid director in Chicago ten days after her return.   Andrew has gone missing, never to be seen again.  And Kate falls under the blaming cloud of her extended family forever.

Then, some years later, a wretchedly wounded Flora Enriquez unexpectedly reenters Kate’s life, the younger woman having fled the land of volcanoes that erupted in civil conflagration.  The young Mayan, desirous of healing for her horrifying injuries and desperate to restore what remains of her family, reignites a fire in Kate to determine the fate her long lost nephew.

The harrowing journey for the two women on the healing and search mission, and employing a wounded Viet Nam veteran to help them, utterly consumes them.
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Home Repair by Liz Rosenberg
Avon, 352 p, Isbn-006173456X

Can lighting really strike twice? Just ask Eve, whose husband walks out on her in the middle of a garage sale.

Eve's beloved Ivan died thirteen years ago in an automobile accident. Her charming, boyish Chuck has taken a different exit out of her life: hopping into his car in the middle of a garage sale with no forewarning and departing their formerly happy upstate New York home for points unknown.

Now Eve's a boat adrift, subsisting on a heartbreak diet of rue, disappointment, and woe - left alone to care for Ivan's brilliant teenaged son, Marcus, and Chuck's precocious, pragmatic nine-year-old daughter, Noni, while contending with Charlotte, Eve's acerbic mother, who's come north to "help" but hinders instead

But life ultimately must go on, with its highs and lows, its traumas and holidays, and well-meaning, if eccentric, friends. A house and a heart in disrepair are painful burdens for a passionate woman who's still in her prime. And while learning to cope with the large and small tragedies that each passing day brings, Eve might end up discovering that she's gained much more than she's lost.

A poignant, lovely, funny, and ultimately uplifting story of love, family, and survival, Liz Rosenberg's Home Repair is an unforgettable introduction to a lyrical, wise, and wonderfully vibrant new literary voice.

This is a novel that deals with the tragedies that life hands out with aplomb. But ultimately its a story about family and the people that are the glue that hold it together. I found very interesting and somewhat bittersweet. Rosenberg writes with an authentic voice that keeps the readers engrossed until the very end.
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A Christmas Carol Special Edition: The Charles Dickens Classic with Christian Insights and Discussion Questions for Groups and Families by Stephen Skelton

Since its publication in 1843, the tale of a miserly old man and the ghosts who visit him has been bringing the true spirit of Christmas into hearts and homes.

Whether you've read the story a thousand times or have only seen the movie, A Christmas Carol Special Edition will enrich your enjoyment of this holiday favorite with:

• The complete text of the Charles Dickens classic.
• Annotations offering interesting insight into the story's biblical allusions, the author's faith, and compelling Christian themes throughout.
• Discussion questions designed to engage and promote dialogue among readers of all ages on such subjects as regret, repentance, and redemption.
• A list of related resources to enhance your study.

Enjoy A Christmas Carol Special Edition in your home, study group, book group, or Advent celebration and learn how to say with Scrooge:

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."

Author Bio
Charles Dickens has held the title of the world's most celebrated nineteenth-century novelist for more than two centuries. Incredibly, his popularity continues to grow today. In addtion to A Christmas Carol, his legendary literary works include Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities,and Great Expectations.

Stephen Skelton is the producer of a best-selling video-based Bible study series, which includes The Mayberry Bible Study and The Beverly Hillbillies Bible Study. He lives with his family in Nashville, Tennessee.
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The Sweethearts' Knitting Club
Avon, 400p, Isbn-006180889X

"Throw a penny in the fountain of the Twilight town square, and you'll be married to your first love . . . "

For ten years, pretty Flynn MacGregor has been turning down the same solid, upright man's marriage proposal. Her friends at the Sweethearts' Knitting Club tell her they're a match made in heaven, but Flynn knows there's only one dangerous reason why she keeps saying no: high school sweetheart Jesse Calloway. She was just sixteen when Jesse was forced out of town under a cloud of suspicion . . . but he's never left her heart

Now Jesse is back, and every time she turns the corner he's there—gazing at her with his smoldering eyes and tempting her with his kisses. Jesse has never played by the rules, and he's made it clear that he's not going to now. And Flynn, who's always done just what her family, friends, and fellow knitters have told her to do, must finally break free and claim the love that binds Jesse to her heart

From the nostalgic cover to the sweet, poignant story of old love and new chances, The Sweethearts' Knitting Club is a delight to read. You feel like you could be friends with the characters, invite them over for coffee and almost visualize yourself in the pages of the book, watching events unfold. In short, a book that's to be read and cherished!
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In Tirissa and the Necklace of Nulidor (Outskirts Press, 336p, ISBN: 9781432740139), the author Willow creates a magic, but dangerous world where lethal spells can occur in a shivering flick of the air and a mysterious man can transform instantaneously into an enormous, frightening bird. Traveling through this remarkable world, the twelve year old Tirissa strives to complete her urgent mission to save everyone in the Three Kingdoms from a deadly fate.

As Tirissa climbs her beloved Oakenwood Hill, as she does every morning, she notices the birds are not singing. Even after scattering the breadcrumbs she's brought for them, her little friends do not appear. There is no hawk circling in the sky to scare them away, no cat prowling clandestinely in the bush. Something is terribly wrong.

Suddenly a huge shadow passes over Tirissa's head too fast for her to see, but she can hear the branches of a nearby tree creaking as the enormous shape lands in them. Terrified, Tirissa runs home to tell her family, only to discover her mother, father, sister, and brother suddenly turn into cold strangers to her, their eyes dead and lifeless as they stare icily at the young girl.

So begins Willow's enchanting tale and Tirissa's journey across the Three Kingdoms to find someone who can break the spell not only cast on her family, but on all her townspeople, as well. Only Tirissa has been spared.

An herbwoman tells Tirissa she must seek help from a distant wizard and so Tirissa begins her quest, soon accompanied by a kindly troll and a short, fat palace guard. These three are pursued in their adventures by the same gigantic bird Tirissa encountered on Oakenwood Hill as well as by the twin princes of Kellayne, the fiercest hunters in all of Blue River Kingdom.

Readers will enjoy the suspenseful and magic odyssey of these three friends while the evil wizard watches their every step in the magic mirror as he plots his second and even more hideous spell on the inhabitants of the Three Kingdoms.

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For decades, tales of mysterious disappearances and strange phenomena in the Bermuda Triangle have captivated the public. Now, a fascinating new science-fiction novel offers a plausible explanation for this enduring enigma.

Through The Triangle (Outskirts press, 388p, ISBN: 9781432740368) from physics educator C.P. Stewart, packs a high-energy rollercoaster of a story into a well-researched and fascinating book that might make you think twice before boarding that next flight or boat through this extensive region of the Atlantic Ocean. The book follows Jake Myers and his teenaged son Nathan, whose fishing trip to Florida takes a detour when their boat runs into a major storm. Little do they realize when they emerge that they're in the right place, but at the wrong time-the Florida coast, nearly 300 years in the future.

Now, this group is about to confront a terrifying part-human, part-animal species that can see in the dark. Together with a loose association of other humans, they'll have to rely on instinct and cunning to survive while they discover the frightening truth that has occurred over the past centuries. But an even greater threat might be one of their own.

Stewart's first book takes readers through the Bermuda Triangle to the other side and, while fictional, is based on research. He analyzed writings of well-known physicists on the subject of space-time and M (formerly string) theory, along with reports by some of the fortunate people who were caught in the Triangle and survived to tell about it. The result is Stewart's conviction that people and objects don't cease to exist, but rather are propelled into another time.

It all combines for a savvy time-travel thriller that will keep you guessing right up until the shocking finale.
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This stylish, witty, and ambitious book (Arch Press, 232 p, ISBN: 978-0-9841157-0-9) is ideally suited for high school and college students, SAT and ACT test takers, business people, and anyone who just wants to know the correct way to write something.

Practice exercises are filled with fascinating, quirky information, making this grammar book actually fun to read. Examples: "The band UB 40 got its name from an unemployment form in England," or the more somber fact, "Sixty percent of all professional athletes have filed for bankruptcy five years after retiring, regardless of how much money they made in their careers."

Grammar rules are deftly and clearly presented. Even more important, more than 2,000 sentences in over a hundred integrated practice exercises-more than any other grammar book-enable users to attain genuine grammar mastery of even long-standing grammar problems.

This book is comprehensive without burdening the reader with grammar drudgery, using and explaining only those grammatical terms which are necessary to avoid mistakes or to improve writing skills. (Good-by subject compliments and predicate nominatives!)

The extensive writing section provides systematic writing exercises to help users write clearer, more concise, and more readable sentences. Practical writing advice is included for writing essays, research papers, and business letters.

The text covers essential sentence structure, including sentence fragments and run-on sentences, using correct pronouns, verbs, capital letters, apostrophes, and all punctuation as well as a usage glossary to sort out confusing words such as accept and except and imply and infer.

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