The Sh!t No One Tells You

Title: The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby’s First Year
Author: Dawn Dais
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: This was often funny but also had sections that contained really useful advice and heart-warming empathy for new mothers.

“There comes a time in every new mother’s life when she finds herself staring at her screaming, smelly “bundle of joy” and wishing someone had told her that her house would reek of vomit, or that she shouldn’t buy the cute onesies with a thousand impossible buttons, or that she might cry more than the baby….Eschewing the adorableness that oozes out of other parenting books, Dais offers real advice from real moms—along with hilarious anecdotes, clever tips, and the genuine encouragement every mom needs in order to survive the first year of parenthood.” (Source)

Author Interview with Trini Amador

Today I’m pleased to introduce you all to Trini Amador, author of the thrilling historical fiction novel Gracianna. Trini’s story is based on the life of his great grandmother Gracianna and I’m very excited to hear a bit about how he wove together fact and fiction. Hi Trini and welcome!

Awww, thanks so much for having me.

Would you please start by telling us a bit about the kind of research you did while writing Gracianna?

Gracianna

Title: Gracianna
Author: Trini Amador
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: Although the beginning was a bit choppy, by the end I was completely engaged in the story and had a hard time putting it down.

Gracianna is a fictionalized account of the life of the author’s great-grandmother. Inspired by his discovery of a loaded German Luger in her house when he was only four years old, Trini learned all he could of her life from his relatives. He filled in the gaps with a gripping tale of a courageous woman recruited into the French resistance during the Nazi occupation of Paris and forced to make some very difficult choices.

Sense and Sensibility Re-telling

Title: Sense and Sensibility
Author: Joanna Trollope
Source: from publisher for TLC book tour
Rating: ★★★★★
Review Summary: This book was an incredibly similar experience to reading the original and it feel fresh again because of the change in setting.

There are two kinds of re-tellings. There are those which use the original as an inspiration and which become awesome by using the original material in creative new ways. Cinder is one of my favorite examples of that kind of re-telling. This is not that kind of re-telling. This is the other kind, where the source material is preserved almost entirely with just a setting change and this is by far the best example of that kind of re-telling that I’ve ever read.

Fighting for the Press

Title: Fighting for the Press: The Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles
Author: James C. Goodale
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: Although I thought the book was a bit biased and over-dramatic, it was so exciting to get a personal, inside look at this fascinating story that I didn’t even mind.

The publication of the Pentagon Papers, top secret documents leaked to a reporter, was contentious from the beginning. First, there was internal debate at The New York Times over whether or not to publish. Then publication led to one of the most important first amendment cases ever, as the government sought an injunction to keep The Times from continuing to publish more of the Pentagon Papers. As the chief legal counsel for The Times, James Goodale is able to share his first hand experience  and his thoughts on the personalities involved in this momentous historical case.

The Book Thief – Discussion 3/3

This is last of three discussion posts for a read-a-long of The Book Thief, being hosted by Suey at It’s All About Books, Kami at Kami’s Library Thoughts, and Kathy at Read This Instead. That means that this post WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. You have been warned 🙂