A Life in Parts

byVicki Bennington, Daniel Brannan

On an ordinary winter day, Loretta Goebel was wrapping Christmas gifts in her basement when the doorbell rang. She rushed to answer it and, in her haste, she banged her hand on the banister as she ran up the stairs. This seemingly innocuous injury resulted in the amputation of both her legs, her left hand, and most of the fingers on her right hand. While suffering through several rounds of amputations and painful prosthetic parts, she had to adapt to life without fingers or feet. Fiercely independent, she refused to succumb to life as an invalid. Even the simplest things seemed insurmountable at first, but with the support of her family and friends, she relearned how to do everything-from feeding and dressing herself to driving a car. Loretta's adjustment and recovery led to a friendship with Paul McCartney and Heather Mills, also an amputee. Heather helped Loretta find comfortable and attractive artificial legs that allowed her to regain her confidence and to feel feminine again.Through all her pain and loss, Loretta never gave up, and her story of triumph is a testament to anyone who is struggling to adjust to difficult circumstances.(Synopsis and cover image from Netgalley).

 

My Thoughts:

Inspiring!

Two thoughts came to mind as I was reading this book:

A quote I just recently saw on Facebook "What looked like a setBACK could've actually been a setUP for God to do something greater in your life!!". For all the negatives and difficulties the author faced, she ultimately chose a path of being positive and working hard to make her life the best possible under her circumstances.

The book also reminded me about how life can turn on a dime. The story is a good example that we should live each day to the fullest and to be thankful for what we have, because we never know when everything could change.

Thank you to Stonebrook Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: October 8. 2012.

White Horse (White Horse #1)

by Alex Adams

THE WORLD HAS ENDED, BUT HER JOURNEY HAS JUST BEGUN.

Thirty-year-old Zoe leads an ordinary life until the end of the world arrives. She is cleaning cages and floors at Pope Pharmaceuticals when the president of the United States announces that human beings are no longer a viable species. When Zoe realizes that everyone she loves is disappearing, she starts running. Scared and alone in a shockingly changed world, she embarks on a remarkable journey of survival and redemption. Along the way, Zoe comes to see that humans are defined not by their genetic code, but rather by their actions and choices. White Horse offers hope for a broken world, where love can lead to the most unexpected places(synopsis and book cover from Netgalley)

 

My Thoughts:

I quite enjoyed this book. Zoe is a strong main character and the story revolves around her life both pre and post apocalypse.

White Horse is the term given by the media for a Pope Pharmaceutical experiment gone terribly wrong - the result of an attempt to cure cancer that ends up decimating humanity. Most everyone dies, some are immune and then there are the horrible mutations who know doubt wish they were dead.

A wonderful debut by Ms. Adams. Fast paced, lovely prose, a well written good vs evil. A strong outing for the first book of a trilogy. I am anxiously awaiting the next two. At this point, I would say I am not interested in being a post - apocalyptic survivor. I am curious to see how the author continues to handle this story line and whether I will change my mind.

Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: December 18. 2012.

Little Wolves

by Thomas Maltman

A tragic act of violence echoes through a small Minnesota town

Set on the Minnesota prairie in the late 1980s during a drought season that’s pushing family farms to the brink, Little Wolves features the intertwining stories of a father searching for answers after his son commits a heinous murder, and a pastor’s wife (and washed-out scholar of early Anglo-Saxon literature) who has returned to the town for mysterious reasons of her own. A penetrating look at small-town America from the award-winning author of The Night Birds, Little Wolves weaves together elements of folklore and Norse mythology while being driven by a powerful murder mystery; a page-turning literary triumph (Synopsis and book cover from Goodreads).

 

 

My Thoughts

Mesmerizing!

I picked this up to just read a few chapters to get a feel for the book and see if I thought I would like it. Before I knew it, I was half way thru and did not want to put it down.

The author’s writing is so lyrical and descriptive. There is that undertone of evil that really drew me in and the pages just flew. This was one of those books where you tend to block out everything that is going on around you. I got so wrapped up in the story that I feel like I just came back from a mini vacation for my brain. Hot dog!

This is Mr. Maltman’s second book. I have no doubt that I will be reading his first and watching for  new releases.

I thank Soho Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: January 8, 2012.

A tragic act of violence echoes through a small Minnesota town
Set on the Minnesota prairie in the late 1980s during a drought season that’s pushing family farms to the brink, Little Wolves features the intertwining stories of a father searching for answers after his son commits a heinous murder, and a pastor’s wife (and washed-out scholar of ea

A Killer in the Wind

byAndrew Klavan

Three years ago, working vice for the NYPD, Dan Champion uncovered a sex slavery ring run by a kingpin known only as the Fat Woman. Obsessed with bringing her down, Champion infiltrated a world of sexual obsession and perversity. He broke the case, but the case also broke him. He started taking drugs and soon began to form hallucinations…a dead child prowling the streets of New York…a beautiful woman named Samantha who would have given him the love he always wanted—if she’d only been real.

Now Champion is a small town detective, chasing burglars and juvenile delinquents, hanging out at the local tavern where he is romancing a waitress. The ghosts and hallucinations are finally behind him as he begins to rebuild his life. Then one night Champion is called to examine the body of a woman who has washed ashore. Yet when he looks at her face, he sees that it’s Samantha, the woman he dreamed about long ago...a woman who doesn’t exist.

Suddenly, Champion is haunted again, only this time it’s by a team of expert killers who want to make sure he never finds the truth: the truth about the dead child who wanders through his imagination; the truth about the lover who inhabits his dreams; and the truth about a killer who has been on the run — in the wind — for a lifetime. The ghosts of the dead are all around him, and Champion has to find out who murdered them, fast, or he could become one of them himself. (Synopsis and book cover from Goodreads)

My Thoughts

Outstanding!

What a roller coaster ride this was. My heart is still pounding from the last 50 pages. I thought the author did a great job of writing a fast paced, twisted mystery. Quite different from anything I have read recently and I am looking forward to reading more from this author. I love it when I find books like this that are from authors who are new to me.

Congrats Mr. Kravan!

Thank you to Grove/Atlantic, Inc. and Netgalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an unbiased review.

Publish date: January 8, 2013.