DREAMS OF JOY: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED 
DREAMS OF JOY 

BY LISA SEE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In her beloved New York Times bestsellers Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Peony in Love, and, most recently, Shanghai Girls, Lisa See has brilliantly illuminated the potent bonds of mother love, romantic love, and love of country. Now, in her most powerful novel yet, she returns to these timeless themes, continuing the story of sisters Pearl and May from Shanghai Girls, and Pearl’s strong-willed nineteen-year-old daughter, Joy.

Reeling from newly uncovered family secrets, and anger at her mother and aunt for keeping them from her, Joy runs away to Shanghai in early 1957 to find her birth father—the artist Z.G. Li, with whom both May and Pearl were once in love. Dazzled by him, and blinded by idealism and defiance, Joy throws herself into the New Society of Red China, heedless of the dangers in the communist regime.

Devastated by Joy’s flight and terrified for her safety, Pearl is determined to save her daughter, no matter the personal cost. From the crowded city to remote villages, Pearl confronts old demons and almost insurmountable challenges as she follows Joy, hoping for reconciliation. Yet even as Joy’s and Pearl’s separate journeys converge, one of the most tragic episodes in China’s history threatens their very lives.

Acclaimed for her richly drawn characters and vivid storytelling, Lisa See once again renders a family challenged by tragedy and time, yet ultimately united by the resilience of love.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lisa See is the New York Times bestselling author of Peony in Love, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Flower Net (an Edgar Award nominee), The Interior, and Dragon Bones, as well as the critically acclaimed memoir On Gold Mountain. The Organization of Chinese American Women named her the 2001 National Woman of the Year. She lives in Los Angeles.

ABOUT THE VIDEO:
"Beauty and the Book" interviews Lisa on YouTube. In this video which runs about eleven minutes, Lisa gets into talking about both SHANGHAI GIRLS and DREAMS OF JOY as well as some of her research that is fascinating and relates to the books as well. Lisa even cooks a typical recipe in it and has a make over! She ends with a book club asking questions and having a discussion about DREAMS OF JOY. I hope you take time to watch.

GUEST REVIEW:
Lisa See’s DREAMS OF JOY is the sequel to SHANGHAI GIRLS but it does very well as a stand alone book.  Before writing this book, Lisa See was invited to visit Huangcun Village in Anhui Province in China. In the Acknowledgments, you can read more about her inspiration for this book. In Anhui, she heard stories about living in the countryside in the communes during the Great Leap Forward.

The location of the story was changed so See could create Green Dragon, but the stone bridge and temple in the story and gorgeous landscape were of Anhui. This is special to me since I had some family friends who lived in Anhui during the Great Leap Forward. Most people are familiar with the Cultural Revolution but not with the Great Leap Forward which preceded it.  This was Mao’s big experiment. He wanted to surpass Great Britain and later the United States in production of agriculture and manufacturing. To do this, he had 700 million people put into communes in the countryside. Some of the people were delegated to smelting iron instead of farming sapping the workforce. Leaders of the commune were trying to impress Mao and beat the other communes in production so they ordered changes to proven farming practices. Those changes would have tragic consequences later.

Lisa See wove the lives of Pearl and May from ‘Shanghai Girls’, and the daughter, Joy, into the stories that she heard in Anhui. The character, Joy grew up in Los Angeles’s Chinatown with her mother and her aunt. She was young, naïve, trusting and believed everything that she heard from a group in college. The FBI considered that group to be Communist.

Joy thought if she was in China she would sing songs in the fields, sharing meals in the commune and everyone would be equal.  She overheard an argument between her mother and her aunt one night. It uncovered a secret about her which was one that she could not understand. Then she felt that she really didn’t belong with her aunt and mother or that she could understand them anymore. She wanted to find her birth father now that she knew that had two fathers.

Pearl to me is the universal symbol for mother, protective, always loving and caring for all children even all human kind. As you read the book, you may want to think about whom Joy ultimately symbolizes.
 
The book is easy to get into and holds your attention all the way through. The characters are well developed and some of the scenes of beauty are so intense that you need to stop and enjoy them. Also some of the scenes are so horrible that they are difficult to imagine that they are true.

What are the conditions like when people become inhuman? What caused Mao’s big experiment to fail so bad that even he admitted his failure? During the Great Leap Forward, it is not known for certain how many millions of people starved to death, were tortured and killed. Why did this experiment go wrong? Why didn’t the commune workers rebel? There are answers in this book. How could the concentration camps in Germany have happened?  Under what conditions do people become inhumane? I highly recommend this book to everyone who loves to learn about Chinese history and wants to understand some deeper questions.
---Review by Carol Wong 

MEET MY GUEST REVIEWER:
For those of you who follow my blog and other blogs, I am sure you have seen Carol's name before. Carol is retired, an avid reader, and lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two cockatiels. She has a son currently working in Chengdu, China. Her comments are delightful, inquisitive, and informational as well. I am so lucky that Carol agreed to help me out every once in a while by doing a Guest Review. It is a huge help to me and allows me to have readers see books from another viewpoint other than just mine all the time. I hope you were able to read Carol's Guest Reviews of FAITH and PLEASE LOOK AFTER MOM. If not, take time to do it...you won't be sorry AND you will be able to read more about Carol there! BIG THANKS to Carol!

GIVEAWAY

MANY THANKS TO ERIKA AND THE GREAT

FOLKS AT RANDOM HOUSE WHO HAVE GIVEN

ME FIVE ADVANCE COPIES OF DREAMS OF JOY

TO SEND OUT TO FIVE LUCKY WINNERS

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOVE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN DREAMS OF JOY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THE VIDEO IF YOU TOOK TIME TO WATCH IT - BE SURE AND MENTION SOMETHING SPECIFIC YOU LIKED OR DIDN'T LIKE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON HOW YOU FELT ABOUT HAVING A GUEST REVIEWER AND IF YOU WOULD EVER LIKE THE CHANCE TO DO THAT

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

 
+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON IF YOU ARE A GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT FOLLOWER AS I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET TO 1200 FOR A LONG TIME. IF YOU AREN'T, PLEASE SIGN UP AS IT ONLY TAKE A SECOND ...THANKS!

 

  GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, JUNE 11

MEMORIAL DAY SPECIAL: A TIME FOR PATRIOTS: REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 

GIVEAWAY ENDED
A TIME FOR PATRIOTS

BY DALE BROWN

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Welcome to Battlefield America!

When murderous bands of militiamen begin roaming the western United States and attacking government agencies, it will take a dedicated group of the nation's finest and toughest civilian airmen to put an end to the homegrown insurgency. U.S. Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan vows to take to the skies to join the fight, but when his son, Bradley, also signs up, they find themselves caught in a deadly game against a shadowy opponent.

When the stock markets crash and the U.S. economy falls into a crippling recession, everything changes for newly elected president Kenneth Phoenix. Politically exhausted from a bruising and divisive election, Phoenix must order a series of massive tax cuts and wipe out entire cabinet-level departments to reduce government spending. With reductions in education and transportation, an incapacitated National Guard, and the loss of public safety budgets, entire communities of armed citizens band together for survival and mutual protection. Against this dismal backdrop, a SWAT team is ambushed and radioactive materials are stolen by a group calling themselves the Knights of the True Republic. Is the battle against the government about to be taken to a new and deadlier level?

In this time of crisis, a citizen organization rises to the task of protecting their fellow countrymen: the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the U.S. Air Force auxiliary. The Nevada Wing—led by retired Air Force Lieutenant-General Patrick McLanahan, his son, Bradley, and other volunteers—uses their military skills in the sky and on the ground to hunt down violent terrorists. But how will Patrick respond when extremists launch a catastrophic dirty bomb attack in Reno, spreading radiological fallout for miles? And when Bradley is caught in a deadly double-cross that jeopardizes the CAP, Patrick will have to fight to find out where his friends' loyalties lie: Are they with him and the CAP or with the terrorists?

With A Time for Patriots, the New York Times bestselling master of the modern thriller Dale Brown brings the battle home to explore a terrifying possibility—the collapse of the American Republic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Dale Brown is the author of numerous New York Times bestsellers, starting with Flight of the Old Dog in 1987. A former U.S. Air Force captain, he often flies his own plane over the skies of the United States. His latest novel, A TIME FOR PATRIOTS is currently on the New York Times Best Sellers List! To read more about Dale Brown, visit is website HERE.

PHOTO BY ROBERT LOVE  

GUEST REVIEW:

This novel starts out with retired Colonel Patrick McLanahan who now works for the Battle Mountain Civil Air Patrol being called to perform a search and rescue for a family that is missing due to a possible small airplane crash in the back country of Nevada. Like most families a son often follows in the footsteps of their father. Patrick’s teenage son, Brad, is living out his life trying to work his way up in the ranks of Battle Mountain Civil Air Patrol just like his father. The two of them find themselves dealing with the harsh reality of national budget cuts under the new president Kenneth Phoenix. These cuts have greatly diminished the resources to meet homegrown terrorists. The plot thickens as a group of terrorists have planned to crash a radioactive dirty bomb on Reno’s city offices. Patrick, Brad, and other volunteers are now faced with the daunting task of using their civil and now some military skills to hunt down violent and ruthless terrorists.
 

My thoughts:
This is my first Dale Brown novel that I have read. The book is full of technical terminology regarding airplanes, flying, and military operations. I liked that aspect of the book; however, I really felt the first few chapters didn’t work well together. A good plot would start to be developed and then the next chapter would bring in another plot that would be occurring at the same time and the two plots were completely foreign in nature and scope. I found out a few chapters later how important each plot was towards the outcome of this novel. In other words, I had to get past the beginning to really enjoy the ending. Brown did a fair job on character development and I found from time to time some good descriptive language; however, I would have liked to have seen more descriptive language and stronger character development throughout this novel. One example of Brown’s descriptive language is below:
“The recent thunderstorms had turned the yard – if you could call their little patch of dirt, grass, and rocks a yard – into a brown crumbly paste, like soggy half-baked green colored brownies.” Page 27
 

Overall I enjoyed the plot and I would recommend this novel for those that like technical driven plots intermixed with heroism at its best. I am giving this novel a 3.5 rating (out of 5).

---Review by Steve Capell

MEET MY GUEST REVIEWER:

I am thrilled to introduce another Guest Reviewer of BOOKIN' WITH BINGO. Steve Capell writes THE most wonderful comments and I knew that when I asked him if he would like to occasionally review some books for me, that I would make my readers very happy. 

Here now, is a little about Steve:

Upon the ripe age of four Steve’s mother, father and sister moved to a new home in Salina, Kansas and the girl that lived right behind their home had the coolest tree house that her father had built. Steve really had no desire to speak to or even notice the girl; however, the tree house became a special place for playing as long as the girl wasn’t around. Steve grew up with the girl and found himself seated in classes through out grade school, middle school, and high school with this girl. After high school Steve attended an electronic communication school and then graduated with honors. During this time he became even closer to the girl with the tree house and in his mind the tree house became less and less important. Steve ended up asking the girl that he knew all his life to marry him. She accepted and the two of them became one on December 7, 1974.

Steve attended College and graduated with honors with a BS degree in Bible Theology and Human Resources. During this time a son and daughter came into the life of this couple. Steve spent thirty-two years in the telecommunication industry first as a telecommunication microwave engineer and then as a regional project manager. The children have grown up and moved out and have been replaced by two Chihuahuas named Miley and Pepper.

Steve has found in his retirement years that reading is a very important aspect of his life. You could say that he is a bibliophile – one who loves to read. When Steve’s nose isn’t stuck inside book you will find him doing many other things that he enjoys like gardening, walking, riding a bike, playing guitar, and playing with his grandson. Steve’s life has been blessed by many people but the girl with tree house has been biggest blessing of all.

  GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO CHELSEY AT WILLIAM MORROW

WITH HARPER COLLINS FOR ONE COPY OF

THIS EXCITING BOOK TO GIVE AWAY

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE, ESPECIALLY THE GUEST REVIEW OF A TIME FOR PATRIOTS, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON HOW YOU SPEND, OR SPENT, MEMORIAL DAY AND IF IT MEANS SOMETHING SPECIAL TO YOU

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY OF MINE THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED. IF YOU HAVE ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, COMMENT ON EACH YOU HAVE ENTERED SEPARATELY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JUNE 10

GOOD LUCK!

BRUNCH WITH BINGO: A WORLD OF CAKE - A GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S

"BRUNCH WITH BINGO DAY"
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THIS SUNDAY'S
  FOOD BOOK CHOICE IS.....

GIVEAWAY ENDED
A WORLD OF CAKE 

150 RECIPES FOR SWEET TRADITIONS

FROM CULTURES NEAR AND FAR 

BY KRYSTINA CASTELLA

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Tour the world of cake! Cakes are at the center of life’s celebrations, big and small, in every corner of the globe. A bite-size lamington is a treat with tea in Australia. In Africa, golden fritters bursting with sweet fruit are popular street snacks. Honey cakes celebrate new beginnings in Jewish tradition, and peach buns are a symbol of longevity in Taiwan. Fruitcakes, from Germany’s stollen to Italy’s panettone, are popular Christmas fare. This delectable cookbook offers more than 150 irresistible recipes accompanied by mouthwatering photographs, ideas for delicious variations, and fascinating historical and cultural facts. This is a must-have for anyone who loves making (or eating!) cake. A World of Cake is more than a cookbook, more than an anthropology lesson, and way more fun than a textbook. Castella embraces the spirit of celebration with this big must have book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Krystina Castella is a professor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, where she teaches Materials Explorations and Design Entrepreneurship. She is the founder of the Design Entrepreneur Network and has owned a manufacturing and licensing company that created housewares, toys, and stationary products. She is the author of A World of Cake, Pops!, Crazy About Cupcakes, and Discovering Nature’s Alphabet, and her work has been published in Craft magazine. Castella lives in southern California.

RECIPES: 

Appalachian Wedding Cake

In a traditional apple stack the cakes are shortbread flat cakes cooked in a cast-iron skillet, but I like to prepare the cakes with butter and bake them in the oven. Any type of apple spread — apple filling, applesauce, apple jelly, apple glaze, or apple butter — can be used as the filling between the layers.

In the past in Appalachia, a bakery wedding cake would be an extravagance. Instead, the apple stack tradition evolved, and it is still practiced today as a form of entertainment.

The wedding guests share in the effort of creating the cake by baking one of its layers. The number of layers in the wedding cake stack gauges the couple’s popularity. The family of the bride cooks and spices dried apples to spread between the layers. At the wedding the guests join in the fun of assembling the cake, trying not to topple it over.

Cake

3{1/2} cups all-purpose flour, sifted
{1/2} teaspoon baking powder
{1/4} teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
{1/4} teaspoon ground allspice
{3/4} cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
{3/4} cup buttermilk
{1/3} cup molasses
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Apple Filling

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
6 apples, thinly sliced (an assortment works well)
{1/2} cup apple juice

Apple Glaze

2 cups apple cider
{3/4} cup sugar
1{1/2} teaspoons cornstarch
{1/2} teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon confectioners’ sugar

To prepare

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Generously butter and flour three 7-inch round cake pans.

To make the cake

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and allspice in a large bowl; set aside. In a separate medium bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, buttermilk, molasses, and vanilla, and blend until combined. Gradually add the dry ingredients and stir well until blended.

To bake

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin to {1/4}-inch thickness. Use a knife to cut the dough to fit the prepared pans. Transfer the dough to the pans and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned. Let cool in the pans for 5 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and set on a rack to finish cooling. Repeat until all the dough is used up; you should be able to make six cakes in all.

To prepare the Apple filling

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the apples and sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the apple juice, cover, and let cook for 4 to 5 minutes, until the apples are softened. Drain off the liquid.

To prepare the Apple glaze

Combine the cider, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 8 minutes, until thickened. Remove from the heat and let cool.

To assemble

Place one cake on a serving dish as the bottom layer. Spread 3 tablespoons apple glaze and {1/4} cup sautéed apples on it. Add the next cake layer and repeat. Top the stack with one final cake layer, and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

GIVEAWAY 

I HAVE ONE NEW HARDBACK COPY,

OF THIS COOKBOOK TO GIVE 

AWAY TO A LUCKY READER!  

--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY

--NO P. O. BOXES

---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

IN CASE YOU WIN!

--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE 

TO COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

 

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT A WORLD OF CAKE AND WHY YOU WOULD WANT TO WIN THIS ONE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK AND LEAVE A LINK THAT I CAN FOLLOW

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE RECIPES ABOVE AND FROM THE VIDEO, OR VISIT WORLD OF CAKE'S WEBSITE HERE AND SEE IF YOU FIND SOMETHING INTERESTING THERE TO COMMENT ON

 

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT 

6 PM, EST, JUNE 10

GOOD LUCK!

NEVER WAVE GOODBYE: AN INTERVIEW, REVIEW, AND GIVEAWAY

GIVEAWAY ENDED
NEVER WAVE GOODBYE

BY DOUG MAGEE

ABOUT THE BOOK:

After passing the bittersweet parental milestone of putting her daughter, Sarah on the bus to sleep-away camp for the first time, Lena Trainor plans to spend the next two weeks fixing all the problems in her marriage. But when a second bus arrives to pick up Sarah for camp, no one seems to know anything about the first bus or its driver.

Sarah and three other children have been kidnapped, and within hours of the crime the parents receive an email demanding $1,000,000. When the specifics of the delivery terms throw suspicion on the parents of two of the abducted children, some of the parents begin to turn on each other, exposing fault lines in already strained marriages and forging new alliances. While the kidnapped children are living their parents' worst nightmare, the police are trying to sort the lies from the truth in conflicting stories and alibis that seem to be constantly changing.

Deftly weaving the emotional story that pits the parents of the missing campers against the police—and each other—with the fate of the kidnapped children hanging in the balance, Never Wave Goodbye will keep readers holding their breath until the last page.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Doug Magee has been a photojournalist, screenplay writer, children's book author, death penalty activist, film producer and director, war protestor, college football player, amateur musician, and the basis of the Aidan Quinn character in Meryl Streep's "Music of the Heart." This is his first novel. He lives in Spanish Harlem with his wife and two teenaged children. Photo by Mark Caparosa.

You can find out more about Doug Magee at his website HERE. Reading Group Guide is HERE and I think this would make a great book group choice!

AUTHOR INTERVIEW:
Please welcome to BOOKIN' WITH BINGO, Author Doug Magee. I am THRILLED he agreed to answer some questions as I am such a fan after reading NEVER WAVE GOODBYE. 

1. Welcome, and thank you for agreeing to an interview for BOOKIN‘ WITH BINGO. Is there any personal information you would like to start out with today?
I’m a writer, photographer and filmmaker living in New York’s East Harlem. I’m married and have three sons. I’m an amateur jazz trombonist.

2.  Where did you get the inspiration or idea for this book?
The book began as an image, I guess, of a woman who has put her daughter on a bus to camp, gone back in her house, and then opens the door to the real camp counselors.  From that image the story took on a life of its own.

3. How did the title of your book come about?
My wife is Norwegian and she told me her grandmother always warned her about waving goodbye to someone. If you did, she said, you’d never see them again.  Thus, Never Wave Goodbye.

4. Do you see yourself in your characters? Which characters are easiest or more difficult to write?
I’m sure there are elements of me in my characters, but I hope I’ve used my imagination well enough so that people much different from me come alive on the page.  The dictate to “write what you know” is fine, but the question is, what do you know?  I include things bouncing around in my head in that category.

5. What books would you say have made the biggest impression on you, especially starting out? What are you currently reading?
I wasn’t a big reader growing up.  I’m still a very slow reader.  I studied English literature in college and did a thesis on D.H. Lawrence. But I don’t think he influenced my writing all that much. I was more taken with Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones than with Lawrence.

I just finished Jennifer Egan’s  A Visit From The Goon Squad. I think it deserves all the praise it’s been getting.

6. What is the next or current book/project you are working on?
I have a new novel coming out in October called Darkness All Around. It’s the story of a man who returns to his hometown after an eleven year absence, claiming he killed his wife’s best friend before he left.

7. What is something about you that you would want people to know about you that we probably don’t know?
I’m a decent cook.  I don’t say anything about this because I’m really seat-of-the-pants in the kitchen.  But I wouldn’t be embarrassed to have you over for dinner.

8. Do you own an eReader of any kind and how do you feel about their impact on books, as well as you as an author?
I don’t have an eReader. My wife does and since she got her Kindle she has been reading much more than she used to. If she’s any indication, I suspect eReaders might be a boon to authors.

9. What is your advice to anyone, including young people, who want to be writers?
Find a way to make enough money to live comfortably in a job that gives you time and mental space to write. One of my mistakes in my various careers was to depend on creative endeavors to bring home the bacon. In our arts universe right now there are very few people who can make their living through their art. Your work will be a lot better if you’re not worrying about the rent while writing.

MY REVIEW/THOUGHTS:
How many of us have felt what it is like to send our children off without us for the first time somewhere? Now imagine how you would feel if you were Lena Trainor, the main character in NEVER WAVE GOODBYE by Doug Magee, sending her only child, nine-year-old daughter Sarah, on a bus to summer camp for the first time. Lena knows her daughter will have fun and be fine, but she is still anxious for her as the camp van drives away while they are waving goodbye. Lena’s thoughts shift to her plan of using the time apart from Sarah as a way to attempt to get her marriage back on track with husband David. Mixed emotions for sure keep Lena busy until another camp bus, the REAL one, pulls up to pick up Sarah!

How can this be? Sarah went off with that “J. D.”, the counselor and driver, about 30 minutes before on the way to pick up a few more campers before heading off to Camp Arno. Now with the validation that the second camp bus is indeed the real one, Sarah begins to think of little things that might have been suspicious had she been paying closer attention to detail. She questions herself for instance, wasn’t it odd that only one counselor came to accompany four youngsters to camp? The story moves into second gear with the realization that four children have been kidnapped and four families have become part of a parent’s worst nightmare!

Police, and soon after FBI, become involved and each family meets the other, waiting for news from the kidnappers. Magee is brilliant in creating mental images of this group for readers, and the suspicions begin to fly in all directions. Is it possible one of the parents is involved in taking these kids? The “who, what, where, and why” of a kidnapping kicks in and each couple reacts in their own way. Accusations fly, bonds are formed, and as things speed along, with one twist and turn after another, we learn more about each child and their family and wonder what part they may have played in all this. Although the story is centered on Lena and Sarah, the other victims all go into making up a fascinating and terrifying mystery. The villains gave me the creeps as I knew the children were being kidnapped long before the kids realized it,  and so we’re witness to the evil mind of the captors! Will the kidnappers ask for money, or do they have something else in mind? Will all the children be returned unharmed? How will this all too realistic and chilling premise effect each person who reads it?

I was hooked on NEVER WAVE GOODBYE from the first time I read a synopsis prior to its release. From the first chapter, Doug Magee had me and I knew I would devour this book. NEVER WAVE GOODBYE is such a dynamic thriller and readers will be able to relate to the plot line on a personal level, and thus will be flipping pages long into the night. The investment one places in these well-developed characters makes you feel their pain, anguish, fear, and frustration. It also is written with alternating chapters from the parent's point of view and then the children's so you experience the drama playing out as if it is taking place in real time with all involved. I loved this book and felt like I was holding my breath until the end, but was still sorry to turn that last page. I look forward to the next story that Doug Magee might have coming our way with great anticipation!  

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KAITLYN AND THE GOOD

FOLKS AT SIMON & SCHUSTER, I HAVE

3 COPIES OF THIS WONDERFUL, GRIPPING

NOVEL TO GIVE AWAY TO READERS!

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT NEVER WAVE GOODBYE AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING WHEN YOU VISIT AUTHOR DOUG MAGEE'S WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT IF YOU HAVE ENTERED THE GIVEAWAY FOR DEAD BY MIDNIGHT WHICH HAS VERY LOW ENTRIES. IF YOU HAVE NOT, YOU STILL CAN HERE AND THEN COME BACK AND ENTER FOR THIS EXTRA ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON WAY THAT YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, COMMENT ON EACH WAY SEPARATELY.

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, JUNE 10

SUMMER IN THE SOUTH: REVIEW AND BONUS ENTRIES

GIVEAWAY ENDED
SUMMER IN THE SOUTH

BY CATHY HOLTON

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:

Cathy Holton, author of the popular Beach Trip, returns with an intriguing and mysterious tale of dark deeds and family secrets in a small Southern town.

After a personal tragedy, Chicago writer Ava Dabrowski quits her job to spend the summer in Woodburn, Tennessee, at the invitation of her old college friend Will Fraser and his two great-aunts, Josephine and Fanny Woodburn. Her charming hosts offer Ava a chance to relax at their idyllic ancestral estate, Woodburn Hall, while working on her first novel. 

But Woodburn is anything but quiet: Ancient feuds lurk just beneath its placid surface, and modern-day rivalries emerge as Ava finds herself caught between the competing attentions of Will and his black-sheep cousin Jake. Fascinated by the family’s impressive history—their imposing house filled with treasures, and their mingling with literary lions Fitzgerald, Hemingway, and Faulkner—Ava stumbles onto rumors about the darker side of the Woodburns’ legacy. Putting aside her planned novel, she turns her creative attentions to the eccentric and tragic clan, a family with more skeletons (and ghosts) in their closets than anyone could possibly imagine. As Ava struggles to write the true story of the Woodburns, she finds herself tangled in the tragic history of a mysterious Southern family whose secrets mirror her own.  

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cathy Holton is the author of Revenge of the Kudzu Debutantes and The Secret Lives of the Kudzu Debutantes. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

AN EXCERPT FROM SUMMER IN THE SOUTH:

The Traveler

When Ava was small, Clotilde told her stories of ghosts and ruined castles and lonely moonlit roads. Most children would have been afraid of such tales but Ava welcomed the shivers of fear and trembling possibility they sent up her narrow spine. She preferred the gnomes and changelings and lonely, misshapen creatures because they seemed more familiar to her than the beautiful princesses and handsome princes that wove themselves in and out of Clotilde’s rambling tales.

“Tell me a story,” Ava would say, climbing sleepily onto Clotilde’s lap, and Clotilde’s girlish face would go still and then brighten as the words came to her.

They owned few books in those days, not because they were poor but because Clotilde liked to travel light. She preferred rented rooms furnished with the cast-offs of other people’s dismal lives to possessions of her own. To finish reading this excerpt, visit the RANDOM HOUSE PUBLISHERS' Website HERE where it is found.

MY THOUGHTS/REVIEW:
Cathy Holton’s SUMMER IN THE SOUTH should not be confused with a typical “beach read”. The book is certainly entertaining, but SUMMER IN THE SOUTH is also a well written novel with wonderfully fleshed out characters and a storyline filled with a little of everything. A little romance, a little mystery, and even some paranormal interaction, all go into making this is a fun read complete with enchanting characters. The book opens in 1931 with the body of Charles Woodburn being identified at a funeral home by one Josephine, that readers will meet again later in the story. The details surrounding this beginning will come into play as the story goes on and the power of the deceased’s family name is revealed.

Move ahead to 1998 and Holton introduces the main character, Ava Dabrowski, a would-be author. She has recently lost her fairly unconventional mother as well as parted ways with her current love interest, bringing Ava to also leave her job. Luckily, Ava is offered the chance to spend the summer in Tennessee by her old college pal, Will Woodburn. Ava thinks this will be a perfect chance to not only visit her old friend but also find time to really work on becoming a novelist. With Ava traveling to Woodburn, Tennessee, Holton introduces all of the colorful southern cast living there. Besides Will (yes, the town is named after his well-to-do family), there is the gang who are living in the family’s town home. These are his colorful aunts who include Fanny who is married to Maitland, and unmarried Aunt Josephine, as well as Maitland’s sister and his nephew, Alice and Fraser. Of course, there has to be one “bad boy” in this group and that is Jake. He is the grandson of Charles Woodburn, who was married to Fanny during prohibition. Clara also lives on the property in a small cottage behind the main house. Clara’s family worked for the Woodburn family for years, long ago. The addition of Darlene, the former beauty pageant gal, who has her eyes set on Will as the prize, rounds out this motley crew.

Cathy Holton uses wonderful descriptions of the setting to make you feel like you are there learning about Toddy Time in the late afternoon and seeing this world through Ava’s eyes. This is a much different world than Ava’s. When she tries to learn more about this fabled Woodburn family, there aren’t any contributors except for Jake, who just wants to catch her eye. The things she does learn lead Ava to see the possibilities for a really juicy novel. She digs up more than she really probably wanted to uncover but hey, a ghost here or there is expected when messing with the skeletons in a family’s closet.

Cathy Holton has skillfully constructed a narrative in which the present and the past come together so that readers walk away with a marvelous story. From the dialogue to the description, from the mystery to the myth, readers will keep the sand off this “beach read” so they can keep turning pages to find out just what it is really like to spend SUMMER IN THE SOUTH.

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO CATHY HOLTON, I HAVE 

THREE HARDBACK COPIES OF THIS

WONDERFUL BOOK JUST IN TIME

FOR YOUR SUMMER READING!

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