I have a lovely blogging friend named Rachel. I enjoy looking at the gorgeous photos she takes of her surroundings in Jolly Ol' (England) and marvel at her tenacity in everything she does. One perfect example is the writing, completion and publication of what is just the first satisfyingly lengthy book in a series about a place called Charanthe. (The fact that I write regency romance novels is no impediment to my appreciation of a great fantasy tome--it was my first literary love and I read pretty much everything that was out there prior to 1989 which is when my first child was born and I started in on the regency romance genre, whole hog.) (I can't explain why.) (Not because I am reticent but because I don't KNOW.)
The heroine is a lovely girl named Eleanor who lives in a land where children are separated from their parents at a very young age and taken to schools to be trained for jobs that best suit their talents and natural inclinations. But Eleanor is not your every day citizen of Charanthe. The job she is assigned upon graduation is laughably easy and utterly boring so she sets off on her own to find her destiny. However, before she can get there, she is pressed into service aboard a ship.
They sail for many days . . .
. . .and many nights . . .
. . . .until she is captured and taken to where she suffers much brutality, including numerous knife wounds (though I won't spoil the fun and spill how she came by them). Poor Eleanor started out as an unblemished, beautiful girl and evolved into a strong, tough, but scarred woman, a bit like the one pictured below . . .
Me, without my eyebrows on--a grim sight, indeed.Unlike me, there was no one to stitch up her wounds.
(Here's a close up for those who are strong of stomach. And, by the way, let this be a warning to you sun worshippers out there!)
However, in Eleanor's case, the expression that goes along the lines of "If you think THIS is bad, you should see the other guy" is more than fitting. In fact, there was is so much fighting, training to fight, and plain old horseplay with knives, daggers, sharpened metal stars and, my personal favorite, the hand harp, in this book, it makes me more than a little glad the author lives across the pond and the entire U.S. of A. away. Should you go to her blog and take a peek at her picture, you, too, will wonder where this sweet young woman learned how to even begin writing this book.
The point is, this is a great, brilliant, smashing read that men, women, boys and girls can enjoy. It is clean (take that Stephenie Meyer!) and there is nothing in it that you would blush to have your teeny-bopper read (take that Suzanne Collins!). However, U.S. readers should keep in mind that the spelling is according to the King's English so "color" is "colour" and "organize" is "organise" and so on and so forth. Do not toss your book or your kindle (yes, this is available in ebook form!!!!) across the room in disgust in the mistaken belief that the author can't spell. Instead, it would behoove you to read until the very end and find out how Eleanor "grows" up and gets comfortable with all of those scars.
You can buy this book on Amazon.com. You will also want to enter the fab contest Rachel has going on Goodreads to win a free copy
but hurry, hurry, hurry, because the deadline to enter is January 31st. I should also warn you that, as of this writing, there are already 805 people in line ahead of you.
Might I add, "good luck" and "wowza"!!!
And the winner is . .. Dedee!!! For those of you who didn't win (but are all still winners in MY book) (and I mean that (almost) literally) (because I have a book coming out and a lot of you are in it) go HERE to buy your own copy.
Go HERE if you want to see my Thanksgiving Decor (because Jessica wanted me to).
Once upon a time, a lovely friend invited me into her home. We (our group included her sister, otherwise known as the the selfless "Molly" and her/their/my/our friend Kazzy) had a delicious dinner of homemade soup and bread. Afterwards, we noshed on incredible desserts along with their entire book group whom she had encouraged to read my very first novel. It was one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me in my entire life, made even more remarkable by the fact that I had never met any of these ladies in person until I flew from my home in California to theirs in Utah in time for dinner.
How cool is that?
So, when Jana (known as Charrette on her blog) asked me to blog about HER first book and offer a copy to give away, I was thrilled to be a part of it. I was even more thrilled when this slim little volume (written by Ester Rasband, illustrated by Jana Winters Parkin) arrived in the mail (on my birthday, no less!) and I was able to read every measured word matched with every inspired stroke of Jana's luminous paintings. (Read here and here and then keep reading about how Jana used inspiration to create these gorgeous works of art.)
What struck me first about these gentle, delicate and ethereal illustrations was how unlike they are from the usually rather robust representations of over-abundance we are accustomed to see when looking at anything having to do with a secular Christmas celebration. How much better suited these magical renditions are to the thoughtful message of "What Think Ye Of Christmas?"
Second, I was struck by the theme of symbolism. We often hear about the symbols of Christmas and what they mean: the candy cane for the shepherd's crook, and so on and so forth. However, the meaning behind the symbols so beautifully depicted here are much more meaningful than a curved piece of wood. These symbols bring one directly to Christ, to His gift to each one of us, of our obligation to receive that gift if we are to truly celebrate Christmas as it was intended to be celebrated.
I was particularly overcome with emotion when I read the scripture quoted on the last page, the very one my son learned and memorized for the children's program at church just a few days prior to reading this book. "After the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him: That He Lives!"
What struck me first about these gentle, delicate and ethereal illustrations was how unlike they are from the usually rather robust representations of over-abundance we are accustomed to see when looking at anything having to do with a secular Christmas celebration. How much better suited these magical renditions are to the thoughtful message of "What Think Ye Of Christmas?"
Second, I was struck by the theme of symbolism. We often hear about the symbols of Christmas and what they mean: the candy cane for the shepherd's crook, and so on and so forth. However, the meaning behind the symbols so beautifully depicted here are much more meaningful than a curved piece of wood. These symbols bring one directly to Christ, to His gift to each one of us, of our obligation to receive that gift if we are to truly celebrate Christmas as it was intended to be celebrated.
I was particularly overcome with emotion when I read the scripture quoted on the last page, the very one my son learned and memorized for the children's program at church just a few days prior to reading this book. "After the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of Him: That He Lives!"
It is, quite simply, the best thing you can buy as a Christmas gift for anyone, including yourself! And I am giving away a copy this very minute. If you want to be included in the giveaway, please make a comment saying so. If you linked here from Facebook and you don't have a google I.D., then just comment on FB or send me an email and I will include you. I will figure out a fair way to randomly choose a winner. (The deadline to enter is Saturday night the 20th of November at midnight.)
At this wonderful time of year, I am so thankful for the God-given talents each one of us enjoys, via our own but mostly, via those of others around us. I am so grateful to have been asked to do this for someone who has done so many lovely things for me and am over-joyed that I have such a wonderful group of friends "out there, somewhere" . . . Hugs!
1. Shout “Pshaw!” into your computer screen?
2. Immediately commence composing a reply explaining how you aren’t really popular, just good at making it look as if you are, (in which case, you truly aren’t a good choice for book promotion)?
3. Melt into a pool of butter the likes of which Land O’Lakes has never seen?
(I did all three, but you already knew that.)
For those of you who weren’t previously hyper aware of this fact, I am woefully susceptible to flattery which is why, a number of email communiqués later in which I was mentally and emotionally “handled” (“manipulated” is far too evil a word to attach to this guy) with great skill, I agreed to do a review of said stranger’s book on my blog . . .
. . . even after making it pretty clear to him that I didn’t want to have anything to do with reviewing books on my blog b/c I am a total wimp who doesn’t want to lie but doesn’t want to hurt the feelings of others, either, and sometimes it just has to be one or the other . . .
. . .even after explaining to him how ever since I learned I was going to have a book between official published covers, my internal editor has been such a screaming meanie that I can’t even read fiction for my own personal pleasure without tossing the book across the room in disgust (Regency Gold by Marion Chesney excluded) . . .
. . . even after telling him that LDS fiction is SO not my thing (I am pretty sure I read Charly when in high school but it was b/c I was babysitting and bored and it was sitting there on the couch, those big eyes staring up at me through wisps of blonde bangs, and I loved it but hated the sequel and have never really read LDS fiction since) (I blame you, Jack Weyland) (though I’m pretty sure it’s my natural state of “deeply romantic idealist” that ruined Sam for me just as it has huge chunks of my life) and that surely there were plenty of other, more appropriate, choices for a stop on his book blog tour than me, myself and I.
Ummmmmmmm, where was I? Oh, yes! In spite of all of that, he still asked and I still said yes. Why? Because said stranger, heretofore to be known as (pay attention—you’re going to be hearing this name a whole lot more in the not too distant future) Braden Bell, is utterly charming and a shameless flatterer to boot, and b/c my susceptibility to flattery is a much larger flaw in my character than my rather recent inability to read a piece of fiction without my internal editor yelling in my head (which is actually getting better--thanks so much for asking). And you know what? I’m so glad I did!!!
(Official disclaimer: I have purposely been avoiding other reviews written about this book b/c I want mine to be utterly original even if it’s not (in which case, I don’t want to know about it) therefore these thoughts and comments are 110% mine alone (or not so alone, in which case, I am glad for Braden’s sake, who is—did I mention?—an utterly charming fellow who I am happy to be able to say “I knew him when”).
(Going into official book review mode, now.)
When I first heard the title “The Road Show”, I was expecting said book to be a comedy, because, let’s face it, what is there about a road show that isn’t a laugh a minute? It wasn’t until I saw the cover of the book that I got a good picture of what could be going on backstage and that it wasn’t going to be one of those “How the Ward Turns” kind of books (which I enjoy, by the way). I knew this was the author’s freshman publication and wasn’t exactly sure what I would be facing but wanted to have an open mind since it wasn’t so long ago that my freshman effort was published and I could really relate to what this author might be feeling.
My first reaction was one of relief. This guy knows how to hook the reader from paragraph one, how to paint a picture in the mind with deft strokes and how to write about LDS people without sounding as if it was written by someone with no other perspective than that of an LDS person (though, I had to kind of chuckle to myself that there was absolutely no swearing in this book even though a character in particular is involved in much deeper sin than the occasional expletive). (What can I say?--I wasn’t raised in Utah. That being said, I don’t swear, either.) Sensing that I was about to experience a highly enjoyable ride, I hunkered down and read the book from beginning to end in one sitting.
I don’t want to give away too much of this book b/c discovery of who the characters are is what this book is all about (and b/c I'm one of those who reads for many other reasons than "what the book is about" b/c I enjoy learning that as I read and am self-centered enough to assume everyone is like that). Therefore I will limit my comments to saying that:
1. this book is full of characters at least one of which every LDS person will be able to relate to in one way or another (and a story in which all believers of Christ and his mission here on earth will be drawn to, regardless of denomination)
2. if the characters were not drawn as specifically LDS, The Road Show would be the next The Christmas Box, complete with ensuing Hallmark Hall of Fame movie
3. the characters are so lifelike and relatable, they seem to jump from the page
4. it’s a Not To Be Missed Must Read book that is full of hope for one and all
5. I am particularly excited to read what Mr. Bell has in store for his next book.
Never heard of Braden Bell before now? Mark my words, it won’t be long before everyone in the LDS community will know his name.
Contributors
- Heidi
- Wife, mother, novelist, gardener, bloggist, lover of good books, roses and vintage charm; passionate about her family, words, roses, vintage home decor, found treasures and the color pink.
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