Review: Ma, He Sold Me For A Few Cigarettes by Martha Long

Summary
When Martha Long's feckless mother hooks up with the Jackser ("that bandy aul bastard"), and starts having more babies, the abuse and poverty in the house grow more acute. Martha is regularly sent out to beg and more often steal, and her wiles (as a child of 7, 8) are often the only thing keeping food on the table. Jackser is a master of paranoid anger and outburst, keeping the children in an unheated tenement, unable to go to school, at the ready for his unpredictable rages. Then Martha is sent by Jackser to a man he knows in exchange for the price of a few cigarettes. She is nine. She is filthy, lice-ridden, outcast. Martha and Ma escape to England, but for an itinerant Irishwoman finding work in late 1950s England is a near impossibility.

Martha treasures the time alone with her mother, but amazingly Ma pines for Jackser and they eventually return to Dublin and the other children. And yet there are prized cartoon magazines, the occasional hidden penny to buy the children sweets, the glimpse of loving family life in other houses, and Martha's hope that she will soon be old enough to make her own way.

Virtually uneducated, Martha Long is natural-born storyteller. One can't help but cheer on this mischievous, quick-witted, and persistent little girl who has captured hearts across Europe.

Review
For a book that was not intended to be published, I’m glad that it was. It gives a voice to those who have none especially of a child. So many times their voices go unheard especially when there is no one they feel they can go to or will listen. This book written from the voice and perspective of a child was the most honest and heart breaking recollection of a life I have ever read. 

If you are a mother and read this book, I hope it inspires you to become a better one. Every child deserves a life from a mother who will care and nurture them. There are no words to describe the injustice of a life when a child gets robbed of being able to experience a childhood. Martha’s story recounts her early life to her beginning teens. Her life plagued by a mother who made poor decisions that resulted in their poverty, neglect, and abuse that had devastating effects on her life that made her experience things no one should ever have to endure. 

Don’t get discouraged by the length. Take your time if you have to but the depth of the story is worth it. It’s unlike any memoir book that you will probably read. The way she chronicled her life is well written from the perspective of details and how the story progresses. 

What truly inspired me from her story was her intuitive fortitude to survive based upon no positive guidance or education through the abuse and pain to get a chance to live a life that was so innocently taken. As you read the pages, the depths of her pain was great but her will to survive to become better just really amazed me.  Everyone has a story but there are some that need to be heard, this is one of them. 

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Review: Take Me To The Castle by F.C. Malby

Summary
What would you do to secure your own freedom?

February 1993. Walls between East and West have dissolved, following the Velvet Revolution of 1989. It is a harsh winter in the newly formed Czech Republic, but the nation celebrates. Arriving in Letovice, Jana is trying to escape a personal loss and come to terms with the changes in her country and in her own life. She stays with the Martineks and meets their son, Miloš. When he leaves Letovice and she travels back to Prague, she encounters a deep and shocking betrayal. Jana meets Lukas, a conservator working on the restoration of a mosaic at the Cathedral of St Vitus. But who is he and what is he hiding?

An evocative portrayal of life during the fall of communism: It is a sometimes heartbreaking tale of deception, distrust and the need for redemption in the aftermath of a regime in which no one can be trusted, not even someone you thought you knew.

Review
Not only does this book draw you in but there is this magnetic, addictive appeal that lures you in a little and then pulls you back. From the first chapter, it grabs your attention and makes you want to just keep flipping the page to read more. You're not overly burden with too much detail, it has the right pace and is easy to follow. What was fascinating was how she incorporated the culture and history around the time of the fall of communism within her story. If you aren't familiar with the history of the Czech Republic, it's a fascinating exploration. 

What was really nice about the story was how you get so swept up in it. Everything from the love triangle between the main character, the connection with the secret government, and the relationships between the characters gives you so much to be interested in. As with any author who has a gift of storytelling, she developed her characters that allowed you to see the story unravel through their eyes which gave it more appeal. You get to know them and experience the story with them as they tell it. You felt more connected to the story because it was written so well through their eyes. Each chapter revealed something else of the story that answered questions that you may of had before which made it fit like a puzzle. 

Overall, I think the book was very enjoyable to read. It give a you a little bit of everything to keep you interested: love, mystery and suspense. I would definitely recommend.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: Amazon
Release Date: 12/17/12
Pages: 266

Review: Jo Joe by Sally Wiener Grotta

Summary
Jo Joe is a mystery of the heart about Judith Ormond, a young mixed race Jewish woman. Seventeen years earlier, violence and hatred drove Judith away from the small Pennsylvania village where she was raised by her white Christian grandparents. Only with the death of her beloved grandmother and the need to settle the family estate does she reluctantly break her vow to never return. During the one week visit, she’s forced to deal with her first love who cruelly broke her heart and is menaced by an old enemy who threatens new brutalities. But when she uncovers a long-hidden secret, Judith is forced to look anew at the bigotry and betrayal that scarred her childhood. 

Review
If I tell you this book is just good or great, than I am doing you such a grave injustice. This is one of the books that I cannot express into words but trust me from the emotional imprint that I am drawing from that this is one of the most beautifully written, introspective and captivating stories that will not only grab your heart but it awaken your literary senses. 

So, what is it about the book that it is so wonderful? I can’t think of anything about that book that I didn’t like whether it was about the overall story, content, or structure. Not many authors can woo you with a seamless perfected story. I think she did such an amazing job with telling this story which is a real testament to her ability and quality to write. The story had such depth that every layer of the story seemed so fit so cohesively to where in the end it just leaves you feeling so good with the exception that you might need to reach for a couple of kleenex.

It was one of those stories that tug at your emotions not only because of the sensitivity of the story but also because of the connection that you feel towards the characters. You can’t help but to embrace them because they just jump off the page towards you. You go where they go, feel what they feel and the connection that is made makes you just want to keep reading.

Here is a little bit to get you started: 

Judith Ormond or as she will be referred to as “Jo” is someone that might come across at first a bit snobby or above the ordinary folk but as you read your heart will go out to her. Jo, the nickname given by her friend Joe Anderson who became one of the best parts of her life, broke her heart. A mysterious phone call brings her back to the place she made a promise never to return. The familial memories that she had would always be cherished but the emotional and physical abuse she endured there is something that as deeply buried she tried to put it resurfaced along with some unearthed secrets that will shatter her core, was the catalyst that inspired her coming to terms and new introspective journey. 

Joe Anderson is someone that you fall an in love with, not like for a while when secrets are revealed but ultimately completely feel sorry for him. In a time and the type of town that’s roots seem defined by racial lines of black and white decided to befriend Judith who he shared much more than a friendship. When Judith had no one, he was everything to her until one day changed forever and he broke her heart. He had some run ins with the law and headed on the wrong path was turned around by the one person whose guilt led to his redemption.

I hope you give the book a chance because there are so many things I think many can relate to such as the familial connection many have with our grandparents that remind us of our fondest memories or the feeling of wanting to belong when you are different. There are so many good things about this book involving the story that I know you will enjoy. You have all the goodies: love, family, friendship, loss, forgiveness and redemption. I will leave you with the hope that your experience with this book was a great for me as it will be for you. 

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: Pixell Hall Press
Release Date: 5/6/2013
Pages: 312

Review: If Time Could Wait by P.S. Hope

Summary
Catherine, as from her own Journals:

Every girl lives  with a dream-

A dream to love a boy, marry him, enjoy a full happening life with him and finally, when the time comes, die lying in his arms, the knowledge of having at least some one worthy enough to shed a tear, providing her with an unknown satisfaction.

Lucky are the few who get the sequence  right and foolish are the most, who in their own unforgiving ways of life, makes a mess of what were in offer. Alas, there lies a third- ones like me…..– Catherine.

Returning home from sea after three years, a place he had found as an escape from the pain caused by his unfaithful first love, all Michael saw in a girl was his chance for vengeance. His feelings of hurt  aggravated to a new high on hearing his sister's words that the girl-next-door, Catherine, was different. To prove that she was wrong, Michael argued that he could wreck Catherine before he left for sea.

Little did he know that his life would change forever, that his fate would be in the hands of the people who blamed him for what befell upon her.The series of shocks started as the first few lines written inside Catherine’s journals. 

Come! Let me walk you once again through the feel called love. 

Review
Ladies, prepare yourself with a box of Kleenex because at some point in time during this book, you might need to soothe your boo hoo. Sometimes in life things happen to people and they either can’t love because of tragedy or pain or want love but have their heart shielded with armor because it had been broken. If you have ever been through that, than you should read this book that will inspire you to want love facing the reality of time not being infinite with no second chances to fulfill what might be a longing regret. 

Well, this book inspired by actual events was just absolutely wonderful. It was so much more than I had expected. What happens in the first chapter will grab your interest to want to keep reading because you want to know what happened. It was one of those books that you get so wrapped into that you just can’t help rooting for the characters, despite their opposition. As you read the pages, you genuinely feel the characters of the book and towards the end of the book you just can’t help to reach for that Kleenex. 
 
Here is a bit to get your started:

Mike falls in love with a girl who breaks his heart and forever changes his perception of women and love. He applies for the naval academy with the hope of a life at sea. He unexpectedly falls for Catherine who has a secret that changes both their lives forever. When he gets back to see, is faced with a tragedy of his own that forces him on a new path.

Catherine is the girl next door who is definitely out of Mike’s league. She unexpectedly falls in love with Mike holding onto to her own pain to experience love. As secrets unfold, she is force with making certain decision before it’s too late.

This is definitely an easy and enjoyable read that gives you suspense, love and loss that will make you keep reading.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: 1/17/13
Pages 199

Review: Mickey Slips by Jaime Sheffield

Summary
Tyler Cunningham is a detective like no other. He can mimic humanity, but 
in  most cases fails utterly to understand people, why they do the things they 
do,  or act in the ways that they do. His saving grace is an insatiable hunger 
for  knowledge that combines with an ability to make connections from a series of  seemingly unrelated data-points that other people miss; this continually pulls  him into other peoples' problems, where his focus and unique perceptual abilities allow him to solve puzzles that others cannot see in ways that nobody else could conceive.

"Mickey Slips" opens with Tyler neck deep in someone else's problem when a father-figure from his past texts him in serious trouble. Tyler drops everything to get Mickey out of his jam. What follows is a fascinating glimpse into the relationship between these two, sandwiched in with a sleek and nasty mix of sex, blackmail, hi-tech shenanigans,  a bag of sawn-off shotguns, and fantastic barbeque.

Review
If you aren’t familiar with the Tyler Cunnigham adventures, than you need to go and grab a copy of this latest one because he is like no other. This fun, fast paced adventure featured the unconventional 
detective that marches to the beat of his own drum, takes a creative and at times not legal approach to solve his cases. At first, you might be like, what is he all about? Once you get to know him, you’ll see he’s completely different from any other similar character that you’ve read. Your curiosity just makes you 
want to keep reading. I feel that is what makes this character so enjoyable to read. 

You don’t know what he is going to do and when it does it you just sort of flip the page and chuckle. This was my first reading of the series and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. What I really love about 
this was that it completely took me out of my comfort zone with that expected predictability of a mystery/detective type story that I set myself up for before I started reading.  

If you are looking for a new adventure that is fun and unpredictable, I highly recommend you check this one out as well as the preceded one entitled “Here Be Monsters”to get to know him a little better.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: Smart Pig
Release Date: 4/6/13

Review: Weighing Anchors by Mervin Block

Summary
Long-time network newswriter Mervin Block doesn't just watch and hear evening newscasts; he listens. Block, who wrote for Walter Cronkite and other anchors at ABC, CBS and NBC, examines today’s network anchors, their scripts and their journalism. Instead of writing about anchors' delivery, wardrobe or favorite desserts, he points out distortions, deceptions, discrepancies and abuses of broadcast writing style. Block shows how newscasters fudge facts, tinker with time, label stories exclusive that aren't, use grammatical errors, present old news as breaking news, exaggerate medical stories and hammer home hype.

Block's sharp wit will leave you amused, fuming and shaking your head over today's network anchors. Reinforced with tips, tests and quizzes, Weighing Anchors gives anyone who watches the evening news the tools and insights to identify write from wrong.

Review
This is one of those books that if you are a stickler for grammar or someone who has chosen not to watch your evening news because you don’t think it’s newsworthy, than you will find this book amusing, informative and interesting. From the perspective of the Veteran newswriter, Mervin Block, he has highlighted some aspects of the news that gives us a behind the scenes look at a few things that will make you watch and listen differently the next time you tune in to your favorite network anchors.

What happened to the days of Edward R Murrow and Walter Cronkite? You know, the days when a journalist penned their story to paper with the defined who, what, where, how and why. Forget about spell check and satellite cameras, grammar and facts were the vitals to your credibility to the public and as a journalist. The broadcasters were your eyes and ears depending on the era to get the story correct and accurate because there was a value on presenting the facts when it exactly happened and how. As your read his book, you will see those days are long gone. 

What is interesting about his book is how you get a different perspective of the top news anchors. You are so used to hearing things said a certain way that you don’t notice the mistakes when they say them on air. When there’s a breaking news story, many just assume that it’s happening right now when in many times fact it isn’t. The public relies on the news to be factual but never take in consideration questioning the source of its origin. He gives in his book actual lines of script and inside information that explains how much of what we see and hear may not be exactly what we think by suggesting that some stories are manufactured or just recycled old news that are made to look exclusive.

There are few more interesting topics he discusses in the book but I’m not one to give away too much, so I will leave it up to your curiosity. If you are a news junkie or someone who is curious about the behind the scenes, this book will give you much to think about watching your next broadcast.

Reviewed by Michelle Bowles

Book Information
Publisher: Marion Street Press
Release Date: 9/12/12
Pages: 228