Fiction/Thriller: ARC of Delirious, by Daniel Palmer

In the book Delirious, by Daniel Palmer, Charlie is a man who is self centered and highly motivated. He works for the high-tech firm SoluCent, which bought out Charlie's start-up company, where he is head of the Magellan Team that leads his project. But in his assent to get where he is, Charlie has stepped on more than a few toes, and has hidden a secret or two. With schizophrenia having taken hold of Charlie's father and brother, is there really someone out to get him, or has Charlie been gripped by his family's legacy of mental illness?

This was a good read. It kept a decent pace until the last 100 pages or so, when the pace really picked up. Being an ARC, there were a few mechanical issues, but overall it had good writing. There was a character or two whom I felt could have been developed a bit more, but it was not detrimental to the story. There was one situation that occurred with Charlie's mother, however, that I felt could have been developed in a more plausible way.

I really liked the storyline and felt that most of the happenings were realistic. There were some great plot twists, and overall I liked the ending. The frightening example of how technology can allow for dangerous openings into our lives was really well displayed.
 
On a scale of 1-4, I give this book a 3.5. I really enjoyed the pacing and simple prose, as well as the twists.
 
This book will be published in January of 2011 by Kensington Books. You can win a signed ARC by clicking on my New Year's Smash page to the left, or pre-order it at http://www.danielpalmerbooks.com/pre-order-delirious
 
ISBN:978-0-7582-4664-6
 
Thank you to Daniel Palmer for the gift of his book, as well as the additional copy for my giveaway.

Children's Non-Fiction: Mubu & Mu-Mu; The Little Animal Doctor, by Peter Alexander

Mubu & Mu-Mu; The Little Animal Doctor, by Peter Alexander is a story based on the true life experiences of Lek Chailert, a Thai woman who is known for caring for and saving animals. In this story, we are introduced to Mubu, a 6 year old Thai girl who lives in a village near the forest. Her grandfather teaches her about herbs and animals, and one day comes home with a hurt baby gibbon. Mubu is left to take care of the gibbon, whose hand was pierced by a poachers trap. A little mischief then ensues, and the first of many stories in an upcoming series unfolds as Mubu discovers her deep love of the forest and its animals.

At the end of this story, there is information on gibbons, as well as information about the real Mubu as a girl and all grown up. This was good for follow up discussion about the book.

I read this to my almost 10 year old, and to my 5 year old. The pre-adolescent liked it, but wasn't thrilled. However, I blame that on age and interest level. My youngest, though, loved the book. When I tried to pin down what she liked best, she simply stated that she liked all of it!

My own view on the book is that it is a very sweet story of a young girl who cares deeply for a hurt animal, while her grandfather warns her not to become too attached. The writing was done fairly well for young readers to appreciate. There were a couple of patches I felt were too choppy, but overall there was good flow.

I don't believe this book should be referred to as non-fiction, because there was some anthropomorphism (personification of an animal). Mubu interpreted Mu-Mu's feelings and actions as those a human would display.  I feel that it should be deemed fiction based on real events.

Overall, this was an enjoyable bedtime read that addressed an environmental concern on a child's level. It opened up a topic for discussion, and was written well.

On a scale of 1-4, I give this book a 4. My youngest and I enjoyed this book a lot.

This book was published Trafford Publishing and is presented by Kennebec Entertainment.
ISBN: 978-1-4269-3886-3
Part of the proceeds form the sale of this book benefits the Save Elephant Foundation.

Thank you to Kennebec Entertainment, and all parties involved, for the gift of this book.

Horror: Drowned Sorrow, by Vanessa Morgan

Drowned Sorrow, by Vanessa Morgan is the story of a work driven mother, Megan Blackwood, who just doesn't make time for her children. Megan is hard at work when she ignores several calls from her daughter, Jenna. It isn't until too late that Megan finds out the reason for Jenna's calls; her son is dead. With the death of her son, Megan walks away from her high powered job to devote her attentions more thoroughly to her daughter. Several months after the funeral of her son, Megan and her daughter, Jenna, take a recommended trip to a secluded lakeside town called Moonlight Creek. But where are the townsfolk? And what's with all the water?


The premise of this book is very strong. The water plays a significant role in the creep factor of this book, and it is done really well. However, I feel that there needed to be more character development of  several of the characters, as well as more back story to the "why" or "how" of the lake. With this book being shy of 200 pages, I feel there was a lot of room to expand.

There were also a few areas of the book that I found were either confusing, or didn't tie in well with other parts of the book. For instance, the ex-husband's role in the beginning of the story is very vague.  The reader gets a sense of the love and loss between Megan and her ex, but that's it. There isn't a lot of back story. Then all of a sudden, the ex-husband pops up later and I just felt that his appearance at that juncture was a bit misplaced. It could have been great, but some elements were missing that were crucial for making the connection.

Overall, I think this book was good. It has a great premise and decent writing. If it were expanded on, and a few of the missing pieces were drawn into the story, it would be great.

On a scale of 1-4, I give this book a 3. Good concept, just needs a bit of clarification and more back story.

This book was published by Llumina Press.
ISBN: 9781605941622

Thank you to Vanessa Morgan for the gift of this book.

Fiction: Suspense/Mystery: Sugar Tower, by Jessica Dee Rohm

Sugar Tower, by Jessica Dee Rohm is a fast paced story about a woman reporter who covers the story of the apparent drowning of a high profile real estate developer's wife. When a year later the story still nags at her, Marchesa "Mach" Piazza finds herself obsessing over the who-dunnit. Working in cahoots with the lead investigator she is able to follow the leads right to the murderer. Along the way, she discovers a lot about the not so nice victim and her past.

I liked this story. There were some good underpinnings and character development. For the most part, the actions taken by the reporter were plausible, and the twists of plot were interesting. The one thing that bothered me most was that the "how" of the murder was obvious from the beginning, but it took the main character until the end of the story to put two and two and two and two together. Maybe I have just read too many murder mysteries and true crime novels!

On a scale of 1-4, I give this book a 3. Overall, I liked this book. It was a fun and interesting read.

This book was published by Olivicas Press.
ISBN: 978-1453-650097

Thank you to Jessica Dee Rohm for the gift of this book.

Autobiography: A Rose for My Mother, by Nancy Lee Canfield

In A Rose for My Mother, Nancy Lee Canfield takes us through her difficult childhood as her parents fought poverty in the 1930's-1950's, and struggled to keep the family together. Being in and out of foster care over the course of several years as her family tried to get back on its feet, exposed Nancy Lee to some less than loving situations. All during this time, Nancy Lee experienced some paranormal things that had people labeling her as "spooky." It wasn't until later in life that Nancy Lee gained a deeper understanding of what her experiences, paranormal and other, actually meant to who she was as a person.

The summary of this book states that it is "An extraordinary true story of how a girl's turbulent childhood shaped and prepared her for a lifetime of studying and researching paranormal phenomena."

This story was a first hand account of the author's early life and struggles during a historic period of war and poverty. It was a real insight as to how families dealt with certain circumstances during that era. The paranormal activities mentioned by the author throughout her childhood were presented as a few odd happenings, and only one stood out as disturbing. I feel that the author must have had more experiences that forged her later life desire to learn and do more in the field than the few that were mentioned in the first 200 pages of the book, but they were not brought to light. However, she shows how one girl survives the daily assaults on feminism, her body, and her emotions while trying to become a woman, and the difficult decisions that have to be made in order to survive the times.

In the last 100 pages, or so, the reader finally gets to the meat of the paranormal which Nancy Lee has involved herself with. One gets to read about her meetings with various experts in the field, her education on the subject, as well as learn the answers to earlier experiences she had which she did not understand at the time.

This story was one woman's recollections of a life hard lived. She was fortunate enough to find the support she needed as an adult and moved forward into a career of helping others deal with the paranormal activities that effect many of us. The book ends with exercises that are supposed to help a person tune into his or her sensitivities. I did not try these, but found them interesting.

On a scale of 1-4, I give this book a 3. Overall, I liked the story of the author's life, though I felt better connections could have been made between the author's childhood experiences and her grown up desire to delve deeper into the paranormal.

This book was published by iUniverse.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-3123-7

Thank you to Nancy Lee Canfield for the gift of this book.