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Thursday, 28 May 2020
Cover Reveal - Eagles in Flight by Ramcy Diek
Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Book Blitz & Giveaway - Fury of the Gods by Amy Braun
Sunday, 24 May 2020
BOOK REVIEW: Born to be Different by John Ignatius Rigoli
Publication Date: 13 December 2018
Ollie didn’t know he was a big weirdo… not until the day other kids made fun of him.
Ollie went home and he put away his costumes. He put away his capes. He closed the door on the special world he created and said goodbye to all the friends only he could see. Ollie was going to be “normal” - no different than all the other kids in the world. No one would ever laugh at him again!
But Ollie had a problem. Ollie wasn’t LIKE all the other kids in the world. Ollie was born to be different!
And so were you.
"Born to be Different" is a love-letter from a doting grandfather to his beloved grandson - and a welcome reminder to all the kids in the world that being different is exactly what makes you so very special!
The issue I had with this one is that there was no identifiable dilemma. The message may be lost on some children as they are unable to make comparisons and identify with the main character. People make fun of Ollie because he's different, but in what context is he different? He states: "My skin is different" and "My eyes are different", but in relation to whom? What is the actual issue Ollie is facing? Other than his grandfather, there were no verbal interactions between Ollie and anyone, and in the absence of relativity, it's difficult to connect with the story and its characters.
It's a good read, but it could have been better executed.
Saturday, 23 May 2020
Book Blitz & Giveaway - The Van Birch Incident by Marla Holt
Thursday, 21 May 2020
Cover Reveal & Giveaway - The People We Meet Along The Way by Beth Rinyu
Tuesday, 19 May 2020
Cover Reveal & Giveaway - Calla by Christina Bauer
Monday, 18 May 2020
Book Blitz & Giveaway - All I Wanna Do Is You by Dylann Crush
Friday, 15 May 2020
Book Blitz & Giveaway - Under the Willows by Pamela McCord
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Book Blitz & Giveaway - Grave Humor by R.J. Blain
In the funeral home, there is no screaming, no murdering, no mutilation, no possessions, no kidnappings, no resurrections, and no cursing of any type. Be quiet and stay polite.
The day Old Man McGregor decides to take a walk and disturbs her peace, Anwen learns there’s a lot more to the basement in the funeral home than a vampire and a handsome gentleman on ice.
If she’s not careful, she’ll learn first-hand why ‘eternally yours’ is the most potent of threats.
Warning: this novel contains romance, humor, bodies, shenanigans, and mythological puppies. Proceed with caution.
BOOK REVIEW: Revenge of the Elders of Zion by Dan Sofer
"If you are a fan of dark humor, you will thoroughly enjoy this. 5 stars!" - Readers' Favorite
The world you know is a lie. Global events are controlled by the Elders of Zion. And David Zelig wants to join them. There's only one problem. The Elders of Zion doesn't exist. It never did. So David rolls his own secret society. But he's not the only covert vigilante group in town.
Dark forces are closing in on every side. The race for survival launches David and his friends from the skyscrapers of Manhattan through the secrets of Imperial Russia to an embarrassing relic from the dawn of Christianity.
Along the way, David will learn about hatred. He will learn about love. And he will discover a very unusual egg. The web of conspiracy he uncovers will boggle the mind.
As time runs out in this zany, high-octane, and deliciously dark comedy thriller, David will face a shocking possibility. Have his good intentions backfired, triggering the worst anti-Semitic attack on American soil ever?
I must admit, this isn't my usual read, so when the author invited me to read the book, I took a chance on it because I found the blurb inviting, and then I saw the cover a little later, which reignited my intrigue. After reading this book, I think I need to make more of an effort to start delving into this genre. It was not what I was expecting, in a good way.
David Zelig, the last heir of Zelig Pictures is down on his luck after being swindled out of his legacy by Preston Clancy, an anti-semist. Tired of of having to tolerate the misfortune of being jewish in New York City, David decides enough is enough. He wants to send a message to the world, one that will cease the maltreatment of the jewish community. He and his two best friends, Jordan Brody and Mitchell Joffe, start a secret organisation called the Trio. What starts off as an innocent mission to change the mindset of the world turns into a deadly battle between multiple secret societies, and the Trio find themselves in the middle of all the chaos. As if encountering these secret societies wasn't bad enough, the Trio are blackmailed by the FBI into infiltrating an organisation known as the Elders of Zion in order to gather intel. The Trio quickly learn that you can't trust anyone, not even those supposedly on the right side of the law.
This story was definitely interesting, albeit surreal at times, but it was nonetheless exciting. It put me in the mind of a recent show I started watching called Hunters, starring Al Pacino and Logan Lerman, about Nazi hunters out for justice, which was a lot more realistic in plot but similar in the overall agenda of the story. Despite the serious nature of the threat, I appreciated the light-hearted moments and the banter between the Trio. I don't usually tolerate nonsensical scenarios, but because I enjoyed the story so much and the adventure it took me on, it was easy to overlook the complete impossibilty of those unbelievable moments. I loved the characters. They were very engaging. The stoy had a more juvenile feel than I think the author had intended but that's what probably added to the nonchalant demeanour preserved by David throughout a majority of the book. I loved the fact that the book didn't take itself too seriously, a total contrast to the characters, which made it even more hilarious.
This book is non-stop action and dilemma from start to finish. A very good read indeed!
Monday, 11 May 2020
Book Blitz & Giveaway - Outfoxed by R.J. Blain
Left with the choice of being the evening snack of a tornado or taking shelter with the bounty hunter, she does what she does best: she lives on the edge.
Striking a bargain with the handsome bounty hunter buys her another day of life, but it also dumps her into the heart of a sinister plot, one meant to enslave the residents of the storm-tossed city—and the others brave and foolish enough to call the Alley home.
Sunday, 10 May 2020
BOOK REVIEW: Ara the Star Engineer by Kamal Singh
Publication Date: 14 October 2018
Publisher: Page Two Books
Ara is a young girl who loves BIG numbers. She wants to count all the stars in the sky… but how? This is an upbeat adventure of Ara and her sidekick droid, DeeDee (“Beep!”). They use smarts and grit to solve a BIG problem and discover an amazing algorithm! A quest that takes them through a whirlwind of intriguing locations at Innovation Plex -- Data Centre, Ideas Lab, Coding Pods, and X-Space. Along the way, they encounter real-life women tech trailblazers of diverse backgrounds, including a Tenacious Troubleshooter, an Intrepid Innovator, a Code Commander, and a Prolific Problem Solver. They tinker-and-tailor, build-and-fail, launch-and-iterate, and in the end discover an amazing algorithm of success -- coding, courage, creativity, and collaboration (“Beeeeep!”).
While this wasn't the most entertaining and adrenaline-pumping read, it was most certainly an informative and fascinating adventure that those interested in engineering will devour with joy. I think the message may get lost with some kids as they try to wade through the techy aspect of the story, but this was a cute story on learning how to problem solve. Ara is a great role model for youths as she is full of determination, confidence and a will to succeed.