Jul 17

19

Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on July 19, 2017
Posted in Book Tours • My Past Giveaways | Tagged With: 20th Century, Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron, Coming of Age, Historical Fiction, Racism | 5 Comments

Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron

Thanks to Paxton Kelly of PR by the Book, I am giving away one print copy of Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron.

Description of Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron

The time was 1968. The place was Montgomery, Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Sen. Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated. War was raging in Vietnam. And war was raging on the playground of the all-white Wyatt Elementary School.

Schoolyard bullies teased sixth grader Lisa Parker because of the way her nose looked. Lisa would often develop a stomachache and check out of school to escape the bullies. Until sixth grade teacher Miss Annie Loomis came to Wyatt. Miss Loomis just happened to be the first African American at Wyatt, and Lisa loved her English class. Now, when the bullies teased Lisa, she would stay in school so that she could be in Miss Loomis’ class. Yet something terrible happened that would change Lisa and Miss Loomis forever.

Racism reared its ugly head at Wyatt, and now Lisa was not the only victim of the bullies’ teasing. Would Miss Loomis endure the bullies’ racist taunts?

About Leah Harper Bowron

Leah Harper Bowron is a lawyer and James Joyce scholar from Birmingham, Alabama. Her article “Coming of Age in Alabama: Ex parte Devine Abolishes the Tender Years Presumption” was published in the Alabama Law Review. She recently lectured on Joyce’s novel Ulysses at the University of London and the Universite de Reims. She lives in Texas and has a daughter named Sarah and a cat named Jamie.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leah.bowronAmazon

Buy Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron

Amazon

Giveaway of Colorblind by Leah Harper Bowron

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on July 28, 2017 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jan 17

7

Infinite by Nicholas Mainier: Review

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 7, 2017
Posted in Books Read in 2016 | Tagged With: Coming of Age, Infinite by Nicholas Mainier, Literary Fiction | 6 Comments

Infinite by Nicholas Mainier

When I heard about this book at a webinar with Harper Collins, I knew I had to read it. I have read a couple other Katrina and post-Katrina New Orleans books that I have really enjoyed. Plus, Infinite also deals with the illegal immigrant issue, a bit, as well as the drug war and violence in Mexico. Though ‘The Infinite’ is fiction, these are all topics I have interest in so it seemed like it would be a good fit.

After Hurricane Katrina, teenagers, Luz and Jonah are romantically involved. They both come from broken families and come to depend on each other for comfort and respite from their problems. Jonah has virtually no family left and basically has to fend for himself while Luz, who snuck into the U.S. with her father, only has him to look after her. It is clear that her father loves her but is also struggling to care for her. He has to line up early in the morning at the hardware store, in hopes of getting work, as an un-documented worker.

When Luz becomes pregnant, Jonah tells her that he lov3es her and will quit high school and join the army to support them. However, Luz’s father sends her to live with her grandmother in Mexico instead. This is when the book really heats up. Stuff happens on her journey to her grandmother’s. Stuff that no one should have to deal with or experience!

When Jonah doesn’t hear from Luz, he decides to drive to Mexico. Little does he know that Luz is struggling to save herself and the life of her unborn child!

I had a really hard time getting into this book. It took about 100 pages for it to finally grab me. No, I don’t usually need a lot of action and violence to get into a book, but I did with this book. Once Luz started her journey into Mexico, I really started to warm up to ‘The Infinite’ and I enjoyed it the rest of the way through. I certainly am glad I read it and can recommend it. I will defiantly check out more books by Nicholas Mainier.

I received the ebook version via Edelweiss for my honest review.

4/5 Stars

About Nicholas Mainier

Nicholas Mainieri’s debut novel is The Infinite, published in 2016.

Born in Miami, Florida, in 1983, Nicholas has also lived in Colorado and Indiana. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame, he earned his MFA from the University of New Orleans.

His short stories have appeared in the Southern Review, the Southern Humanities Review, and Salamander, among other literary magazines. He currently teaches writing and literature at Nicholls State University, located in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana.

He resides in New Orleans with his wife and son.

Apr 16

28

Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on April 28, 2016
Posted in My Past Giveaways | Tagged With: Coming of Age, Contemporary Fiction, Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton | 6 Comments

Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton

Thanks to Jordan Rubinstein of Grand Central Publishing, I am giving away one print copy of The Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton

Description of Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton

From the internationally bestselling author of The Book of Ruthand A Map of the World, a heartfelt coming-of-age story that Karen Joy Fowler calls “a timeless classic…a book you will read and reread.”

Mary Frances “Frankie” Lombard is fiercely in love with her family’s sprawling apple orchard and the tangled web of family members who inhabit it. Content to spend her days planning capers with her brother William, competing with her brainy cousin Amanda, and expertly tending the orchard with her father, Frankie desires nothing more than for the rhythm of life to continue undisturbed. But she cannot help being haunted by the historical fact that some family members end up staying on the farm and others must leave.

Change is inevitable, and threats of urbanization, disinheritance, and college applications shake the foundation of Frankie’s roots. As Frankie is forced to shed her childhood fantasies and face the possibility of losing the idyllic future she had envisioned for her family, she must decide whether loving something means clinging tightly or letting go.

Praise for Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton

“A book with so much grace, wit, and resonance — this is one you’ll read and reread. I surely did. I laughed, I cried, I pondered, I mourned. I took these characters deeply into my heart. Hamilton at her amazing best. A timeless classic, in its first appearance.” — Karen Joy Fowler, bestselling author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

“THE EXCELLENT LOMBARDS is everything you could ask for in a coming-of-age novel—funny, insightful, observant, saturated with hope and melancholy. Jane Hamilton’s novel about a young girl’s life on an apple orchard is full of oddball characters and tender scenes that will linger in your memory.”— Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children and The Leftovers

About Jane Hamilton

Photo credit: Leslie Brown

Jane Hamilton lives, works, and writes in an orchard farmhouse in Wisconsin. Her novels have won numerous awards, including the PEN Hemingway Award, and The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World were both chosen as Oprah Book Club picks and made into movies. For more information about the author, visit her website at www.janehamiltonbooks.com.

Giveaway of Excellent Lombards by Jane Hamilton

This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. and ends on May 20, 2016 at midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.