Help! For Parents by Anthony LaPray Review and Giveaway!

Parenting doesn't have to be an ordeal. Reading doesn't have to be an ordeal. Those two beliefs make Help! For Parents different from any parenting book written.  Written in layman's terms, this book was published in order to better reach Dr. LaPray's clients. As a practicing psychologist (now retired) of 37 years, Dr. LaPray knew that parenting could be an enjoyable journey and consistency and positive feedback were key. 

While psychology students were studying their buried id or superego in the philosophies of Freud, Dr. LaPray was studying the cutting edge ideas of B. F. Skinner and developing a cognitive behavior approach to parenting (albeit through the experimental lab rats and mazes). While parents were reading how to care for babies by revolutionary Dr. Spock, Dr. LaPray was setting up reward systems based on poker chips and candy bars for his own 5 children and working as a pioneer in the new Head Start program.

My take

This book is an easy read with sound advice. Dr. LaPray advocates time-out, consistency, and basic troubleshooting of parenting. This book should sit on the shelf within arms reach for every parent of a toddler or teenager (same basic mentality). 

Are you a mom, dad, grandparent, aunt or uncle? Do you want a nudge in the right direction? Here's your chance for a copy of this book! Two lucky readers will get a FREE copy!

Rules -

1. Leave a comment with your email.

2. Include parenting advice given to you - good or bad.

3. Open to my friends in AFRICA and AUSTRALIA (and anyplace else that won't break the bank for me to send it).
4. Contest ends June 28th. HURRY!

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Change of Altitude by Anita Shreve GIVEAWAY!

Anita Shreve worked in Kenya as a journalist early in her career. She returns to that country in her latest, the story of a photojournalist and her doctor husband, whose temporary relocation abroad goes sour. The year-long research trip is an opportunity for Patrick, but leaves Margaret floundering in colonialist culture shock, feeling like an actor in a play someone British had written for a previous generation. When a climbing trip to Mt. Kenya goes fatally wrong, Margaret's role in the tragedy drives a quiet wedge between the couple. Compounding those stressors are multiple robberies and adulterous temptations, as well as Margaret's freelance work for a controversial newspaper.

This book is on my "to read" shelf which is really an attractive stack of books by my bed. It is two and half books away from being read. If you would like to try and beat me to it, let me know by providing a comment with your email address.

This looks like a great chick book (yes, I did just say that) and perfect for a book group. In fact, I'll give you a heads up and give you a link to the reader's guide. Here it is.

Contest ends June 28, 2010

Open to U.S. and Canada residents

No P.O. Boxes

Tell me you adore me.

Thank you Valerie from Hatchette Book Groups for sponsoring this giveaway.

Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook (Revised and Updated)

I'm not going to lie. I like to cook. Sometimes I like to cook a lot. But I'm a little on the busy side. In case I haven't previously mentioned, I have four children, a house, and a job. Far too often 6:00 p.m. approaches and I wonder what we're having for dinner.

Now meet my old friend, Ye Olde Crock Potte.

It's just a regular old crock pot but I love her. Look at the way she is stained on the outside. That means she is well used.

FSB Media let me review Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook. They don't know it, but it made me so happy I skipped.

I happen to be addicted to easy.  Slow cookers epitomize easy. Did you know you can bake bread in slow cookers? Neither did I. 700 recipes of slow cooker meals from appetizers to desserts with bread, soups and casseroles in the middle. Desserts! I said DESSERTS!

The nice part about this book is that it includes a page debunking myths and another page discussing best use practices. For instance, for optimum cooking, fill slow cooker 2/3 full. I didn't know that. Chunky vegetables take longer to cook so place them at the bottom of pot to maximize heat. Every time you take the lid off your slow cooker, add 15 minutes to cooking time.

Most important myth that MUST be debunked (according to me): You can't overcook food in a slow cooker. The next person that says that to me will get slapped. If you've never overcooked a roast in a slow cooker, you just aren't trying hard enough.

Each recipe provides prep time, cooking time, and ideal size of slow cooker. Do you cook it on high or low? It's provided. Don't have all the ingredients? There's even a page for substitutions.

I really wish you could see me doing the happy dance.

Flight to Heaven by Dale Black

My take:
About 20 years ago a lot of people who have had near death experiences published their story. It was disappointing to me and I didn't really know why. With a few more years experience, I realized that, although the experiences may be completely real, it seemed that they were trying to sell themselves more than the experience.

Dale Black was 19 and probably pretty arrogant when he got his pilot's license. He'd just been kicked out of college and didn't really care. He hopped into an airplane with two other pilots who had more experience and was ushered to the back seat, mere inches from the pilots. Minutes later, the acting pilot took off without gaining proper air speed. The airplane began losing altitude and, ironically, smashed into a memorial structure built to honor pilots who had previously died called "Portal of the Folded Wings." All of the occupants were ejected from the airplane at approximately 135 mph.

The acting pilot died upon impact. Dale's good friend, Chuck, died at the hospital. Dale felt the moment as he was floating above his body and the doctor came into the room. Dale was in a coma for three days. When he woke up he had HUGE gaps in his memory. He was also critically wounded with chemical burns, shattered bones and joints, pieces of the airplane stuck in his flesh, and an obvious brain injury. Slamming into concrete at 135 mph tends to do that.

Although Dale did not remember anything from the accident or the time he was in a coma, he awoke with a very strong and personal love for those he saw. He wanted to tell them how much God loved them. He wanted to tell them how precious they are and help them to know that truth. He wanted to tell them about Jesus and the importance of His gift.

The author eventually tells of the experience he had at the gates of heaven; the light, the sounds, the music, the love, the people but it is clear he holds back the most sacred of the experiences. The memories were buried for months before they began coming to him in dreams and then while awake. Because of the sacred nature, he didn't tell anybody about them until a couple of months later when he visited with his grandfather. His grandfather told him to hold them sacred, pray about them, and share them only at an appropriate time. Most importantly, rather than telling about his change of heart, live it.

The author then details the rest of the first year after the crash. His injuries were extensive. He didn't just have broken bones and dislocated shoulder as he was previously told. They were shattered beyond probable repair. He details his journey of faith and humility as the crash and the brush with heaven did not completely quell his pride.

Dale was given a glimpse of God's love, it changed his heart and he wanted everybody to know how much God loves them, too. But he was also a proud person (like most of us are) and wanted to be healed for personal gain. When he accepted God's will miracles occurred.

Another poignant part to Dale's story is that even though miracles occurred and he acknowledged God's hand (and they really are amazing), his journey is long and arduous. Nothing happens suddenly but requires not only his own faith but a lot of hard work. He didn't just get to believe he would be healed and pray it would happen. He had to exercise not only his body but his will. When he gave his will to God answers came.

With the additional years of experience and language, Dale more clearly articulated the importance of God, Jesus, and the Plan of Salvation. Waiting forty years to tell a piece of his story made the telling a selfless act. It also gave the author forty years to live the change.

This would be an incredibly difficult book to write. Dale leaves his pride behind him as he describes how he survived, why he survived and the others did not, how much he wants to further God's work, included a little smidgen of how he has done so without placing himself on a pedestal, and he is somehow able to use written language to write about spiritual experiences.

Getting a Little Personal
Last Sunday I had a culmination of experiences that ended (?) with an experience I could not articulate to my husband. He's only seen me grapple with the problem but hadn't been part of the entire process. Answers to my prayers were coming but not the answers I expected and then He added a bonus as I found myself connecting to a woman at church who happened to be struggling with similar issues.

I realize I'm being vague here. It isn't that I'm being secretive, I just couldn't articulate the experience that day and I can't do it now.

I tried a number of times to explain parts of it to my husband but I was unable to attach language to it and couldn't stop crying. In exasperation, I told him that I didn't know why I was crying. It wasn't a sad occasion or answer.

He wisely taught me that crying is the way our bodies respond to spiritual experiences.

Standing ovation to Dale Black and my husband..

The Business of Announcing WINNERS!

What a week! We have some happy bloggy readers! 

Rather than hold you over until the next commercial break like "So You Think You Can Dance"  in an effort to stretch it out until you can hardly stand it...

Have I ever told you how much I love DVR?

(Stop it, Nancy.)

And the winners for some Amusing books are:

Desire Me

Marian

Amazon Queen

Diana

The Heart Mender

Joann

Confessions of Catherine de Medici

Countess Laurie (how appropriate she would be royalty)

Winners have been emailed. If you see your name and you didn't get an email, assume it is because I am keeping the book all to myself drop me a line.

By the way, fantastic comments. Love the favorite lines. We are SO going to do that one again.

New giveaways in the works. Check out what I have on the right.

More coming!

WINNERS!

Of Play Dead

T Warner

Still the One

Barb

Marian

Jan

Congratulations winners! 

Emails have been sent to winners. Please respond within three days.

The Art of Devotion

Have we all not wished to keep forever the one person we love the most?

The secluded beaches of a sun-drenched Mediterranean island are the perfect playground for young Sebastian and Adora. Emotionally adrift from their mother, Adora shelters her sensitive older brother from the cruelties of the world. Sophie does not question her children's intense need for one another until it's too late. Her beloved son's affections belong to Adora, and when he drowns in the sea, she has no one else to blame.

Still heartbroken years later, Adora fills her emptiness with Genevieve, the precocious young daughter of her husband's business associate and his jealous wife, Miranda. Thrilled to be invited into the beautiful and enigmatic Adora's world, the child idolizes her during their summers together. Yet, as the years progress, Genevieve begins to suspect their charmed existence is nothing more than a carefully crafted illusion. Soon, she too is ensnared in a web of lies.

Stunningly told in the tragic voices of four women whose lives are fatefully entangled, The Art of Devotion is evocative and haunting, a story of deceit, jealousy, and the heartbreaking reality of love's true power.

My Take
This book is going to be the biggest hit for book clubs. I honestly don't know how to even write my reading experience. But I'll try. For you.

The story is unique because it is told in four distinct voices thus four perspectives. Each voice adding more to the story. I found myself leaning more sympathetically to each character after the chapter she wrote. And then I would change my mind as I was pulled through another voice and new information. 

The book begins with a simple story and ends with a tangle of secrets, betrayal, loves lost, gained, new understanding. The way I felt about each character at the beginning is not the way I felt about her by the end of the book.

Here they are in simplistic terms and I want so much to say more but I don't want to ruin the book for you.

Adora - She's the center of the universe. She is beautiful and tragic. As a child she arrived on the island with her brother, two years her senior. When her mother was widowed, Adora took the role as caretaker for her brother, Sebastian. She devoted herself to him with her all-consuming love. Established early in the book is that she died in 1938. Her voice comes from the diaries she keeps from the time of her brother's death at the age of 20 until her death at 38. She is unable to have children and decides she loves her husband's best friend's daughter, Genevieve whom she loves as completely as she did her brother.

Genevieve - By the age of 8 she had essentially been stolen by Adora. She spent every summer on the island until the age of 18. She begins the narration as a 20 year on the eve of her wedding. She sounds resigned and not thrilled as she might have been.

Miranda - Genevieve's mother. She bitterly laments the losses she has endured at Adora's hands. She feels victimized by her husband and Adora and manipulated by her daughter.

Sophie - Adora's and Sebastian's mother who blames Adora for Sebastian's death. She is jealous of Sebastian's affections for his sister and loathes her for being the child that lived.

It is killing me to say nothing more of the story but I don't want to ruin it for you. The symbolism is poignant. The dogs, the olive grove, the flowers, the sea. Motherhood a recurring theme, as it is a form of devotion, although can be dichotomous.

As each woman speaks, more is revealed, eventually providing the reader with completely unexpected twists and turns. The innocent may not be so innocent. Malice is also an art. And some people truly are without guile. Others are simply duped. 

This book completely ruined my dinner date with my husband tonight. I could think of little else. The more I processed it with him, the more irony or symbolism I found. I also found this is a very difficult book to explain because the story contains so many layers. Read it then explain it to you husband. Go ahead. Watch his astonished look when you try to explain the dogs. 

(They aren't really dogs, they are representative of devotion. Okay, they really are dogs but they are so much more. Now, see? It doesn't sound coherent but it makes perfect sense. Really. It does). 

The author has an incredible command of language and human capacity for love, devotion, annoyance, avoidance, malice, and just putting words to feelings I've never thought to articulate yet they resonate. Her descriptions are beautiful and heart breaking.

This is a book that will either be dearly loved or deeply irritating

Contains a Reader's Group Guide. I suggest reading the guide before beginning the book. I highly recommend reading the book for in a book club.

Want it? I have one up for grabs! Frankly, I wish I had more so we could start our own book club! I would love to hear a conversation about this book! 

We could have it at my house. I'd make petits fours. Not that I know how but it would be appropriate refreshment for our book club.

Leave a comment with your name, email address, and what you would like served at a book club.

Contest ends June 28, 2010
U.S. addresses only
No P.O. Boxes

Book provided by Sarah at Pocket Book Group for review. FTC regulations makes me say that but I still didn't have to tell you I loved it.

Returning Injury by Becky Due

7 years ago Rebecca was physically assaulted by a man named Roy. She was left with damage to one ear and emotional scars to last a lifetime. Through counseling and a positive support network, Rebecca makes conscious choices to not only improve her life but also serve others who have been in an abusive relationship.

Told in third person, the story flashes from present day to past tense easily, giving the reader a glimpse of Rebecca's journey. With her husband out of town, Rebecca has time to reflect on her current work and her life experiences, making connections. All the while she is cognizant that Roy has been released from prison recently.

Dark, stormy night, alone in a big house all by herself except for her dog who has never been potty trained, the foreboding atmosphere of impending doom is palpable, if not contrived. Will Roy show up while her husband is gone, during a dark, windy, and scary night? 

I liked having Rebecca being a strong role model for those who have been in abusive relationships. I found her strength refreshing. It is also indicated that it didn't come easily. The author provides incredibly sound and useful information and research for the reader regarding prostitution, sexual abuse, pornography, and other uncomfortable subjects.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I didn't like the story. It seemed extraneous and didn't engage me. Rebecca's character muses over the relationship of both sets of grandparents, her mother, her father and herself but it didn't go anywhere. I also didn't see the significance of the dog and the coyotes.

Though I didn't think the story was as well developed, I was exceedingly impressed with the research done on the subjects regarding women's issues, abuse of all forms, pornography and prostitution. I would highly recommend the book to any person struggling with any of the aforementioned issues.

My Dog Tim

In light of my poor review of this book and a comment by the author, I would like to repost this review to give Gary, the author, a voice regarding my review.

From Publisher:
My Dog Tim and Other Stories is an anthology of Garasamo Maccagnone’s finest works. The anchor of this collection is “St. John of the Midfield”. With newly added scenes, “St. John of the Midfield” is an almost mystical story of Bobo Stoikov, one of the world’s greatest soccer players, who escapes death in communist Bulgaria to find the American Dream. Due to severe injury during Bobo’s escape, he is unable to play once he arrives in America. Though he finds peace and happiness in simply coaching soccer to youth travel teams, his eccentric ways of teaching and his success lead to a hate-filled rivalry, and eventually, his death.
Other stories in the anthology include: “My Dog Tim”, an ode to the author’s beloved childhood pet; “White Fang”, a tale of revenge that has more do with orthodontia than Jack London’s infamous dog story; “The Note Giver”, the story of a mysterious old man who arrives at St. Isidore’s and turns the congregation upside down by handing out notes that sting the individuals with truth and insight on their own bad ways; “White Chocolate”, “Goalie Boy”, and three vignettes

My take

I read the anchor story, "St. John of the Midfield" and decided I was not the person to review this. One thing I just don't want to do is trash someone's work. Authors spend incredible amounts of time coaxing a story onto paper or a computer screen. Their time and effort is valuable. 

But my other conscience prevailed. The reader's time is valuable, too.

I was warned there was strong language in this book. If you know my reviews at all, I will let you know if the language is distracting or inappropriate. The language is too strong for my tastes however, that fact didn't register as the top few reasons I didn't like the story.

I thought the story was completely pointless, the protagonist unlikeable, and the story never really reaching a conclusion. Basically, the protagonist tells the story first person. He's the father of a kid who is gifted in soccer. The kid's coach's name is Bobo who escaped a communist country on a train with his brother, physically damaging both of them so they could never play pro. Bobo takes care of his brother and coaches for the love of coaching. One guy makes allegations and ruins Bobo.

In the meantime, the protagonist is cheating on his wife with some soccer mom who really wants her son to play but can't afford the club fees. Bobo gets pushed to the background as the protagonist's bad behavior is explored. And for some reason I can't quite connect, the protagonist is actually the good guy of the family because the rest of the family is smuggling drugs into the country while the good boy is running the legitimate business.

The story ends with a crescendo and then, like the author ran out of steam or just didn't like the story, it ends. Kind of like my sophomore English teacher warned us to not do for a creative writing class. He said, "Don't set up such an elaborate story, get tired and end suddenly with 'and then they all die.'" 

In all fairness, I didn't read the rest of the short stories. As far as I know, they could have been fabulous. There could have also been some marvelous symbolism that I'm just too shallow to comprehend. 


This book was given to me to read as an Advanced Reader's Copy by Pump Up Your Books.

From Gary:  

No reason to apologize. My wife doesn't like St. John of the Midfield." But she also admits to reading nothing but shallow romances.

You could have noted, that the book has received many 5 star ratings, especially from people like Cheryl, at PUYB, Rambles Fiction reviews, Page One Literary review, Apex Reviews, as well as amazon reviewers. 

It's silly to admit, as a reviewer, that you don't like certain type of language in a book. If that's the case, don't review books. Leave your religious or moral bias out of the critiquing process. (I do it all the time)

Did you ever consider that your High School English teacher was a fool? Obviously, he never read Hamlet or The Great Gatsby. Based on what he taught you, Billy Shakespeare and Scotty Fitzgerald both ran out of gas.
I realize St. John of the Midfield is not for everyone. Still, it's done very well with critics and readers and it certainly deserved to be published.

I am glad the book has received higher marks than I gave it. I am glad it appeals to other readers. I'm just one reviewer.  Regardless of Gary's comments and others' reviews, I feel the same way I did when I wrote the review. I even wrote it with the understanding the author might read it.  I am not critical of the author, just the anchor story.  

My thanks to Gary for stopping by to add his opinion of my review.

What's Really Hood! by Wahida Clark GIVEAWAY

Life in the streets take on a whole new meaning in this urban anthology of "hood" tales compiled by New York Times bestselling author Wahida Clark

WHAT'S REALLY HOOD!

Black Is Blue by Victor L. Martin delves into the life of a corporate woman who falls in love with a thug and finds out just how easy it is to stray from the straight and narrow.

Eighteen and hungry Wiz's only addiction to drugs is the money it made. But Crystal changed all of that and shows him just how powerful a woman can be in The P is Free by LaShonda Teague.

In The LastLaugh by Bonta, Bobo, a member of the infamous Eight-Trey street gang, learns that gang life isn't all it's cracked up to be as "street wars" take on a whole new meaning.

Shawn "Jihad" Trump tells the story of loyalty, love and honor, when The Point Blank Mob is brought to its knees leaving the crew fighting for their lives and freedom in All for Nothing.

And New York Times bestselling author, Wahida Clark, introduces Nina, a woman tired of being disrespected by men who takes revenge to the ultimate level in Makin' Endz Meet.

About the Author

Wahida Clark was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey. She began writing fiction while incarcerated at a woman's federal camp in Lexington, Kentucky. Her first novel, Thugs and the Women Who Love Them, and the sequel, Every Thug Needs a Lady, appeared on the Essence bestsellers list. Since her release, Wahida has achieved much success with her follow-up of Thug Matrimony. Payback With Ya Life, made its way onto the prestigious New York Times bestseller's list. Wahida is working hard on her next novel in East Orange, New Jersey.

Victor L. Martin is the author of four published novels: A Hood Legend, Menage's Way, For the Strength of You, and Unique's Ending. He is currently incarcerated in a North Carolina prison.

LaShonda "L.L.Dasher" Sidberry-Teague is a Wilmington, North Carolina native, coming into her own as an up-and-coming author. She is the wife of author Kwame "DUTCH" Teague, one of the hottest street writers, and the mother of five children. She has found her calling in writing, and has her first novel coming soon, entitled Kiss. LaShonda lives by the motto...be a blessing and you will be blessed.

Bonta was born and raised on the mean streets of Chicago's southeast side. After graduating high school and a brief stay in the U.S. Army, he answered the streets' calling. His cost of chasing the mirage of fame and fortune was a 151-month federal sentence. While there, the legendary Joe Black inspired him to get serious about writing. Since then, he has written two novels and a few short stories.

Shawn "Jihad" Trump was born in Pennsylvania. In November 1999, Shawn was arrested and subsequently indicted by the federal government and sentenced to 84 months in prison. During his time there he learned to channel his emotions through writing. Since being released, Shawn continues to write and is also the partner of an up and coming indie label, South of the Burgh Entertainment. Shawn is married with two daughters.

Urban Lit is still in its infancy and the genre is diverse. This collection of short stories consistently speaks the same language. The language is extremely strong. First, the word choice is all 'hood. It's a new vocabulary that the reader quickly shifts language gears and understands but it does take a few pages.

Did I mention the language is strong? I am not providing a review for this book. I tried to read it but the language was too distracting. Other reviewers have given positive feedback for content. The authors take the reader firmly by the shoulders and thrusts her into urban life - a life very different from my suburban semi-charmed kind of life. The characters daily deal with sex, drugs, violence, and conversation you'd rarely hear on any given day. 

With language warning firmly in place, a giveaway opportunity is here! One winner will take this book home!  Want it? Let me know with a comment and email address. Want it bad? Become a follower and let me know with a separate comment. Want it really, really bad? Facebook it, tweet it, blog it, or tell your best friend and let me know with a separate comment. 5 comment limit for entries.

-Only residents of the U.S. or Canada are eligible to win
-No P.O. Boxes, please.

Contest ends June 25, 2010

Thanks to Anna at Hatchette Book Group for offering this giveaway!

THE HOST Winners

Congratulations Chris and the glorious Mrs. Simonson! 

I feel a little guilty because Chris and I are not old friends but I LOVE CJ Sime's BLOG! She just gives me enough of this and that, laughs and cries that I keep coming back!

It's a little addicting. Try it.

I Will Not Be Silent

This is a difficult book to review. The author, April, details her experiences as a child living in a horrendous existence with physical and emotional abuse. The oldest of four children, she witnesses her uncle stumbling out of her house as a crimson stain spreads across his chest. She is then propelled to find her mother within the walls of her home, crumpled and her face completely blown away by her father's bullets.

After seeking help, she and her siblings are whisked from the crime ...more This is a difficult book to review. The author, April, details her experiences as a child living in a horrendous existence with physical and emotional abuse. The oldest of four children, she witnesses her uncle stumbling out of her house as a crimson stain spreads across his chest. She is then propelled to find her mother within the walls of her home, crumpled and her face completely blown away by her father's bullets.

After seeking help, she and her siblings are whisked from the crime scene where her father holds out for four more hours before a sniper bullet ends his life.

Told through the mind of a 9 year old child, the author seems to recall in great clarity the details of her feelings of responsibility, fear, inadequacy, and anger. This provides the reader with an empathetic heart towards the 9 year old child who lost so much.

The author points out how everybody failed her. Knowing her dad's propensity for violence and that he was "mean drunk," there were no Child Protective Services, restraining orders were allowed to expire, and the children continued status quo in a dangerous situation. Up to this point, I give the content of the book 4 stars.

As April enters adulthood, she is much less clear with her choices and her path to healing. She details a boyfriend she had off and on for four years who came from a similar background and exhibited violent tendencies. When he returned from a military training, he begged her to try again and she finally took a stand against their being together. Two weeks later he died in a car crash. She laments that her life might have been better if she had accepted his proposal.

Was this a typo? Did she really believe, at the time of publishing, that the young man who provided her a connection by being a survivor of childhood abuse, could have made her life better? I was a little disappointed by her lack of insight.

Eventually, she did marry a man who proved to be abusive. She chronicles her feelings of failure as she eventually ends the marriage, but not before including a barb at her ex-husband that he is still a difficult man.

The author continues into adulthood and finds solace in alcohol. Through clear personal responsibility for her own choices, April painfully accepts her wrong-doings and makes a conscious choice to change her ways. Through God and Jesus Christ she finds redemption and healing.

I'm only reader, but I think the book and message could have been greatly strengthened by April omitting the accusations against her siblings who haven't coped as well as she has and concentrated more on documenting how she found her way to forgiveness. It is clear that her father, at least, suffered from bipolar personality disorder that went undiagnosed and untreated except for his own self-medication. This genetic trait has then been inherited by some of April's siblings. It seemed that she was judging them which was contrary to her Christian message.

I do not mean to criticize April in any way. She is clearly an extraordinary woman who has chosen to face her demons head on, stand firm, and not run from them again. In her quest for healing she has also found a purpose for her survival and a calling to educate others of the dangers of domestic violence. She is willing to be the mouthpiece for the silent child who suffers because so few are willing to get involved.

I cannot reiterate enough how accurately April is able to transport herself to the frightened, desperate 9 year old girl who articulately describes how that 9 year old perceives the life she is living. That perspective, in and of itself, provides an incredible public service. It is unimaginable that she not only survived the experience but was able to recreate it on the pages, revisiting the horrors, and giving that little girl the voice she had not been able to find at the time.

That, in and of itself, is nothing less than heroic.

I do hope, however, that April will be able to revisit her adult self and be more specific with her personal healing, as I believe this would be critical in assisting other adult survivors of child abuse and horrors.

The Confessions of Catherine De Medici Review and GIVEAWAY

The Confessions of Catherine de Medi...

C. W. Gortner

I didn't know much about Catherine of De Medici. Okay, I knew nothing about her but she lived in Italy then France at the same time Henry VIII was busy beheading, divorcing and outliving his six wives

So I did the extensive research of looking her up. I used Wikipedia.

Snore.

The European history buff in me prevailed and I decided this one had a pretty cover so perhaps the story would be acceptable. Oh. My. Gosh. I was incredibly surprised by the storytelling. I could not put the book down. Although the story follows much of Wikipedia's account of Catherine, the author tells a story of the time period and of Catherine, a woman both loved and hated during her life and death.

Catholicism was still the rage in the sixteenth century, although John Calvin, Martin Luther, and others had cast a shadow on the prevailing church's worship practices. Catherine was very small when her Italian city was thrown into a civil war. She suffered terribly during her imprisonment but was eventually rescued by her Uncle Clement, the pope. Shortly thereafter, however, she was sent to France to marry Henry, the son of Francois, the current king of France. It was a political move, as all royal unions tend to be. Unbeknownst to Catherine, she entered a royal court full of adultery (the most glaring being her husband's), petty gossip, and negotiation for power.

The dauphin, the next in line, dies, leaving Henry the next king. Eventually, the old king dies and bequeaths the crown to Henry and Catherine becomes queen. By this time, she has finally given birth to a son and follows up with 8 more children. The king dies leaving Catherine the odious task of becoming a has-been. She watches the social climbers and new powers take over son's sovereignty and then he dies without leaving an heir. The next son is only 11 years old. She appoints herself as regent and rules until his death, again leaving no heir. The next son steps up, using Catherine as his playbook.

Meanwhile, Protestant and Catholic wage wars against one another. It is brutal. Catherine tries to remain non-partisan while maintaining her Roman Catholic roots but eventually makes decisions that may have contributed to the massacre of St. Bartholomew. Huge. Really huge and not at all pretty.

The author writes a story that leaves Catherine as a heroine rather than a persecutor. While he does not beatify her, her reasons are explained the reader is drawn into her world and her sorrow. Why did she laugh as Navarre was forced to renounce his Protestant faith and join the Catholic church? It's in the book. Did she really order the deaths of all Protestants in France on that fateful night? What could have driven a woman to take such desperate measures? Or did she?

The book is well written and has clear and concise descriptions. Catherine endears herself to the reader who feels empathy for the protagonist. By the end of the book, and of Catherine's life, the reader understands more clearly how being royalty in this time period left few choices in marriage and others often pulled the puppet strings. How much manipulation plays a part is brutally brought to light.

The writing and story are excellent. I kept having to turn the page to find out what happens next. It is definitely not boring by any stretch. I also did not find myself getting lost with too many characters. Although complex, the relationship to Catherine and her children is generally quite clear. Gortner's research is meticulously done.

I just so happen to have an extra copy. If you want it, let me know in a comment. I'll choose a winner on June 8th.

U.S. residents only, please.

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