Book Review - Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

 

In 1966, Frankie Croy decides to take a trip to Venice and stay in her friend's empty palazzo. She needed a break after her recent novel didn't garner as much as success and attention as her first novel. After a scathing review was published, and having a public breakdown, Frankie decides she needs a change of scenery.

In Venice, Frankie crosses path with Gilly. Gilly is a young admirer and is eager to become friends with Frankie. Gilly tries to insinuate herself in Frankie's exiled time in Venice. As Frankie spends more time with Gilly, she feels that Gilly is hiding something from her.

This entire novel was a complete waste of time. The author left a lot of questions unanswered but, answered a few random ones. I also don't understand why Frankie kept entertaining and spending time with Gilly when she was having her own reservations about the girl. Frankie mentioned that she felt uneasy around her but, yet she continue to spend time with her. I also didn't like how the author sprinkled Italian words without giving context to their meanings. I can't say I liked any of the characters and I am struggling to find a story/plot for this novel.

Book Review - Grumpy Monkey Oh, No! Christmas by Suzanne Lang + Giveaway

 

It's Christmas time in the Jungle and Jim isn't in the holiday spirit. Jim eats a festive green banana only to make him feel sick and now everything seems worse. All the other animals in the jungle are eager to celebrate Christmas. However, Jim thinks that this time of the year just stinks.

I think the book can be a cute Christmas time read but, it felt more like a normal everyday type of book. It felt like Christmas and other seasonal holidays was just thrown on top. I felt like Jim had mature types of conservation with the animals like drinking tea or eating unripe foods. If this wasn't a holiday theme book, I would have enjoyed it more because they barely talked about Christmas and the many different ways people celebrate the holidays. I think the book tries to be very generic about the holiday but, ends up not really doing anything at all. 

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

 

About The Book:

Title: GRUMPY MONKEY OH, NO! CHRISTMAS

Author: Suzanne Lang, Max Lang (Illustrations)

Pub. Date:  September 14, 2021

Publisher: Random House Studio

Formats:  Hardcover, eBook

Pages: 32

Find it:  Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org

Jim Panzee, our favorite #1 New York Times bestselling grumpy monkey, is feeling like quite the Scrooge this holiday season!

It's Christmas time in the jungle, and Jim just can't get into the holiday spirit. Then Norman offers Jim a festive green banana and Jim feels sick, making everything seem worse. All the other animals in the jungle are ready and eagerly awaiting Christmas, but Jim feels everything stinks. Norman tries to find the solution...and shows Jim that everything can be solved with a soothing cup of tea and time spent with a good friend.

Get your own Grumpy Monkey stuffed animal!

 

 

About Suzanne Lang:

SUZANNE LANG produces, develops, and writes children's television. Formerly with Cartoon Network, she is presently the story editor of an animated comedy series for Cake Entertainment and Copa Studios. Suzanne has a BFA in film and television from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.

 

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About Max Lang:

MAX LANG is an animation director, storyboard artist, character designer, and illustrator. He codirected the adaptation of The Gruffalo, which was nominated for an Oscar and a BAFTA, as well as the adaptation of the picture book Room on the Broom, which has won numerous awards, including the Cristal for Best TV Production at the Annecy Animation Festival.

 

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Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a finished copy of GRUMPY MONKEY OH, NO! CHRISTMAS, US Only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

12/6/2021	The Phantom Paragrapher	Review
12/6/2021	For the Love of KidLit	Excerpt
12/7/2021	perusewithcoffee	Review
12/7/2021	@bookhounds	Review
12/8/2021	@curlygrannylovestoread	Review
12/8/2021	One More Exclamation	Review
12/9/2021	YA Book Nerd	Review
12/9/2021	Coffee and Wander Book Reviews	Review
12/10/2021	Rajiv's Reviews	Review
12/10/2021	@enjoyingbooksagain	Review

Week Two:

12/13/2021	Jazzy Book Reviews	Review
12/13/2021	The Pages In-Between	Review
12/14/2021	@coffeesipsandreads	Review
12/14/2021	This.nerdy.bookworm	Review
12/15/2021	@thebookishfoxwitch	Review
12/15/2021	Pick a good book	Review
12/16/2021	Midnightbooklover	Review
12/16/2021	The Momma Spot	Review
12/17/2021	two Points of interest	Review
12/17/2021	onemused	Review

Book Review - The 12 Gifts of Christmas by Lena Nelson Dooley + Giveaway

Photo Credit - Amazon

Malcolm MacGregor is a successful businessman and a descendant of the clan in Scotland. Alanza Cantalmessa works in a gourmet pizza shop owned by her parents. The duo is smitten with each other but, Malcolm only has enough courage to make small talk. However, when he gets a promotion that will send him to Australia for six months, he has to move fast. He decides to give Alanza twelves gifts leading up to Christmas to proclaim his desire for her. Will Malcolm's plan work? Is the pair destined for happiness?

The novel might not be a preferred read for many because both main characters are perfect and wealthy. I felt the span of their relationship with from wooing phase to marriage within a span of around two weeks to be unrealistic. It felt a bit unrealistic because as much as you love someone, you can't be sure you know everything or all their flaws. Overall, a decent read but, not something I would gon out of my way to read again.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. This post may contain affiliate links which means I earn advertising and/or referral fees if you purchase an item through my link. Please note, there will be no any extra charges to you. Thank you for your support.**

About the Book

Book Title: The 12 Gifts of Christmas

Author: Lena Nelson Dooley
Genre: Christian Romance/ Christmas
Release date: September 4, 2018
Malcolm MacGregor is a descendant of Scotland’s Clan MacGregor and a successful young businessman in Fort Worth, Texas. Alanza Cantalamessa works at a gourmet pizzeria owned by her Brazilian artist mother and her Italian Poppa. Both of them are smitten with each other but Malcolm is too reserved to do much more than make small talk—until a promotion at work that will send him away to Australia for six months. It’s December and he has to do something—fast.

Praying about the situation, Malcolm decides to give her twelve gifts leading up to Christmas. Their families and friends think they are moving too fast. And a gold-digger who tossed Malcolm aside in the past has now decided he’s the man of her dreams.

Can Malcolm and Alanza overcome their obstacles before he has to go abroad? Or is it really not meant to be?

About the Author

 

Multi-published, award-winning author Lena Nelson Dooley is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, her local chapter in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, the Christian Authors’ Network, and Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. Her forty-plus books have sold more than 875,000 copies. Lena’s books have appeared on the CBA, ECPA, and Publisher Weekly bestseller lists, as well as some Amazon bestseller lists. She also writes a popular blog, A Christian Writer’s World, that features other authors’ books. The blog received the Readers’ Choice Blog of the Year Award from the Book Club Network.

Lena is a three-time finalist in the Carol Awards ACFW contest. Her 2010 release, Love Finds You in Golden, New Mexico, won the 2011 Will Rogers Medallion Award for excellence in publishing Western Fiction. Her next series, McKenna’s Daughters: Maggie’s Journey appeared on a reviewers’ Top Ten Books of 2011 list. It also won the 2012 Selah award for Historical Novel. The second, Mary’s Blessing, was a Selah Award finalist for Romance novel. Catherine’s Pursuit, released in 2013, was the winner of the NTRWA Carolyn Reader’s Choice contest, took second place in the CAN Golden Scroll Novel of the Year award, and won the Will Rogers Medallion bronze medallion. Her book, A Heart’s Gift, won RWA’s Faith, Hope, and Love Readers’ Choice Award in July 2017.
Lena is also the host of The Lena Nelson Dooley Show on the Along Came a Writer blogtalk radio network. She has experience in screenwriting, acting, directing, and voice-overs, and currently serves on the board of directors of Higher Ground Films. She has been featured in Christian Fiction Online Magazine, ACFW Journal, Book Fun Magazine, Charisma Magazine, and Christian Retailing.

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lena is giving away a grand prize of a $20 Starbuck’s Gift Card and a surprise Christmas gift!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/d5c9/the-12-gifts-of-christmas-celebration-tour-giveaway

Book Review - J by Howard Jacobson

Photo Credit - Random House

**May contain spoilers**

The love story that is taken place in a "world where collective memory has vanished and the past is a dangerous country, not to be talked about or visited". The unlikely pair was drawn to each other by first sight. Their curious encounter takes them on strange path to leading the pair to wonder, was their meeting by faith or someone controlling their faith?  In a society, where everything is closely monitored, the pair risk everything to stay together for not just themselves but for entire faith of mankind.

The Man Booker Prize winner author spins a tale that many reviewers akin to Orwell’s 1984 and  Huxley’s Brave New World. I would also throw in the mix, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451  and the movie Inception. 

The book is written with dialogue intertwined with journal entries and stories. One would wonder how some of the stories seem misplaced and how they fit together with the entire story. Like the movie, Inception you would need to read the book several times to appreciate all the finer details and even then it might not be enough.

However, if you are like me, dear reader, I got confused and overwhelmed very quickly (just like the movie Inception). Some of the story's undertones were not apparent and I rather not assume to guess what the author is trying to tell me but rather...have it spoon fed. Which brings me to one of my annoyance with this book, which while rich in story and creatively written, the author writes in mini-story lines that make you wonder and interested in them but fail to develop or expand more on it.  Sadly, while the book does offer insight to not only the main characters but side characters as well -- it doesn't offer much more than random tidbits. A good read at least once if you are okay with cliffhangers and your assumptions.

**Received this book in exchanged for an honest opinion. This had no affect on my review**

Book Review - The Midwife’s Tale by Delia Parr

Photo Credit/Source - Amazon

I was recently given the opportunity to read "The Midwife's Tale" by Delia Parr and provide my honest opinion in exchange for an copy of the book.

The story begins with widow and midwife Martha Cade delivering a baby faraway from home. Upon her departure and excitement to join the rest of her family back in Trinity, she receives news from her brother about her daughter running away to join the circus (does anyone else think of Water for Elephants?).  At the time period the book represents, there is quite a "strict" family structure and code in place for the community. Daughters should be home until they are ready to be married and usually follow the career path steps of their mothers. The news, undoubtedly, shakes Martha to the core. She not only has to deal with a daughter whose whereabouts are not known but with being ostracize by the community.  To make matters worse, Martha depends on being a midwife to support herself. After, the old doctor from their community dies a new younger doctor comes and believes there is only room for one of them.

While, the book provide us insight into Martha's life as not only a mother, widower, a midwife, a community member but as a human who is simply trying to fit in and find a place for herself. The author does a good job creating believable but flawed characters. The book doesn't necessarily bills itself as a historical novel, but I wish it gave a bit more historic information on how lives of a midwife was like during that time period. The book does have little tidbits on how certain herbs cure ailments. The book was a bit a slow in the beginning but not painfully slow, although towards the end, there were so many twists and turns --- one should hold on! But, with that many twists and thrills at the end of the book, it made it feel rushed and that it should have been spread out more. Thankfully though, the book leaves no stone unturned and every question is answered.  A gem to be read once and then passed to others.