Aug 21

11

Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on August 11, 2021
Posted in My Past Giveaways | Tagged With: Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier, Dysfunctional Families, Jewish History, Memoir | 7 Comments

Do Not Disclose: A Memoir of Family Secrets Lost and Found by Leora Krygier

Thanks to Madison Ostrander of Sparkpoint Studio, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Do Not Disclose: A Memoir of Family Secrets Lost and Found’ by Leora Krygier.

Description Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier

Leora, a juvenile court judge, wife, mother, and daughter, is caught in the routine of work, taking care of her family and aging parents. But she’s also a second-generation Holocaust survivor. It’s an identity she didn’t understand was hers until she accidentally discovered a secret file of handwritten notes addressed to her father.

A further discovery of a seemingly random WWII postcard in a thrift store sets her on a collision course with the past in this lyrical memoir about secrets hidden within secrets, both present-day and buried deep within wartime Europe.

Praise Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier

“This richly detailed memoir will particularly appeal to those whose imaginations are fired by genealogy and historical research. A captivating story smartly recounted.”–Kirkus Reviews, STARRED

“Do Not Disclose is hard to put down, a haunting, poetic journey, the search for lost childhood, like a letter from someone we did not want to see anymore, nor want to open for the fear of finding inside it–a truth.”–John Bernstein, prize-winning screenwriter, playwright, and Professor of Holocaust in Film and Israeli Cinema at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies

“Leora Krygier is an exquisite writer and Do Not Disclose is her masterpiece. In lyrical prose, she recounts the bittersweet journey of excavating the truth in her own family and that of a complete stranger. When astonishing twists and turns lead her on a path she never expected to travel, she stays the course with courage and commitment and ultimately finds her way home.”–Linda Schreyer, award-winning screenwriter and author of Tears and Tequila

About Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier

Leora Krygier is a former Los Angeles Superior Court, Juvenile Division judge. She’s the author of When She Sleeps (Toby Press), which was lauded for its “luminous prose” (Newsweek) and praised by Booklist, Library Journal, and Kirkus. It was also a New York Public Library Selection for “Best Books for the Teen Age.”

She’s also the author of Juvenile Court: A Judges Guide for Young Adults and their Parents (Rowan & Littlefield) and Keep Her (She Writes Press), a young adult novel reviewed as a “vibrantly dazzling literary cocktail on the restorative powers of love.” She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, David.

Website: http://leorakrygier.net/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/leorakrygier

Buy Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier

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Barnes&Noble
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Giveaway Do Not Disclose by Leora Krygier

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on August 27, 2021 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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May 21

7

Committed by Paolina Milana: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on May 7, 2021
Posted in Book Tours • My Past Giveaways | Tagged With: Committed: A Memoir of Madness in The Family by Paolina Milana, Dysfunctional Families, Memoir, Mental Health | 6 Comments

Committed: A Memoir of Madness in The Family by Paolina Milana

Thanks to Kim Weiss of PR By the Book, I am giving away one print copy of ‘Committed: A Memoir of Madness in The Family’ by Paolina Milana.

Description Committed: Madness in The Family by Paolina Milana

Imagine keeping a family secret about your mother’s mental illness and growing up as one of the offspring charged with “caring for crazy.” Then, to compound the horror, witnessing another version of schizophrenia as it consumes your younger sister – who you practically raised yourself, thanks to your mother’s frailty. To see Paolina Milana as an example of resilience might be the understatement of all time.

As a 20-year-old, Paolina gets a chance to escape her circumstances by attending an out-of-state school, but the madness she tries to leave behind will not let her be as letter after letter arrives, constantly reminding her of the insanity from which she longs to break free. Making matters worse, the voices in her own head whispering words she’s not sure are normal, further her fears. “Please don’t make me be like Mamma,” she prays to a God she’s not sure is listening.

The unexpected death of her father soon after she returns home leaves Paolina in shock—becoming fully in charge of her paranoid schizophrenic mother. But it isn’t until at age 27, when her younger sister explodes in a psychotic episode, is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and must be committed, that Paolina descends into her own despair, nearly losing herself to the darkness.

Beautifully written with flourishes of handwritten letters (in Italian) from her parents, recordings of her own inner voices challenging her every move, and a heartbreaking slew of sticky notes revealing the harrowing thoughts of her sister’s delusional mind, Paolina’s epistolary memoir invites readers into her inner circle of intimate encounters with mental illness. Poignant and impactful, Committed is a story of resilience that teaches and inspires, not as a tidy narrative, but as an authentic and rare share that speaks to the struggle of staying sane despite being surrounded by madness.

Praise Committed: Madness in The Family by Paolina Milana

“Paolina lets the reader in, to both her heart and her mind, as she struggles to make sense of the madness all around her. This is a harrowing story told with generosity of spirit, and that is not easy to do.”– Jennie Nash, founder and CEO, Author Accelerator

“Committed is a must-read for anyone struggling with mental illness, especially if, like Paolina, insanity has taken root in your family tree. This raw memoir brings to light the reality of madness — both in terms of what may surround us and that which may lurk within us.”- Samantha Dunn, author of Failing Paris and Not By Accident

About Paolina Milana

Embarking on her latest book, Committed: A Memoir of Madness in The Family, author, speaker, podcaster, and founder of Madness To Magic, Paolina Milana’s mission is to share stories that celebrate the triumph of the human spirit: To unleash the power that lies within each of us to bring about change for the better.

Milana’s professional background is rooted in journalism where as a features writer for a major daily newspaper in the Midwest, she told the stories of other people. Then she moved to the field of PR/media and digital marketing as an executive in both corporate and non-profit environments. Given her experience in an emotionally tumultuous household where she was put in the position of caregiver to unstable family members, she is uniquely qualified to serve as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for children in foster care and as an empowerment and resiliency coach, using storytelling to help people reimagine their lives, write their next chapters, and become the heroes of their own journeys.

Paolina has won awards for her writing, including her first book, The S Word, which received the National Indie Excellence Award. Her self-help picture book for adults, Seriously! Are We There Yet?!, and her holiday fiction novel, Miracle on Mall Drive both published in late 2020. Paolina is first-generation Sicilian, married, and lives on the edge of the Angeles National Forest in Southern California.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MadnessToMagic

Buy Committed: Madness in The Family by Paolina Milana

Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Indiebound

Giveaway Committed: Madness in The Family by Paolina Milana

This giveaway is open to the U.S. only and ends on May 21, 2021 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
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Jan 17

18

Games of Make-Believe by Julie Ann Wambach: Giveaway

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 18, 2017
Posted in My Past Giveaways | Tagged With: Contemporary Fiction, Dysfunctional Families, Games of Make-Believe by Julie Ann Wambach, Young Adult | 4 Comments

Games of Make-Believe by Julie Ann Wambach

Thanks to Rebecca Brown of Cadence Group, I am giving away one print copy of Games of Make-Believe by Julie Ann Wambach.

Description of Games of Make-Believe by Julie Ann Wambach

Julie Ann Wambach, an Arizona resident for fifty years, sets her new book, Games of Make-Believe, in the early Phoenix, Arizona, area where the population by 1990 had grown by seven and half times of that in 1960. During these years, the explosive building boom and rapid cultural changes brought by an influx of diverse people from many other parts of the country imposed a heavy price tag on residents. For Dr. Wambach, a retired college professor whose early writings were primarily in the academic arena, this is her first work of fiction.

Amidst the 1960-1990 Phoenix transformation, the Prince family struggles to create what we now call a “blended family” before they ever heard the term. When a prosperous gentleman convinces her to marry him, Bella’s arduous existence suddenly holds the promise of enchantment. Thus begins twenty-eight stories, some in the style of a romantic fairytale, others of a comedy or a tragedy. Together, the stories explore the role of make-believe in a dysfunctional stepfamily trying to make sense of their lives in the changing community around them.

At the center of the family discord is the daughter who Bella’s husband brings into the marriage. Renata immediately rejects her new stepmother and two stepsisters. No one knows how to unify this group. As an adult survivor of child abuse, Bella struggles to create a convincing self-identity within her new husband’s affluent world. Her take-charge approach to running the family convinces others, but not herself. In an effort to make sense of it all, Bella latches onto a series of religions and pop psychologies, while her husband wholly devotes himself to the intense competition surrounding his flourishing home development business.

About Julie Ann Wambach

A retired college professor whose publications were primarily academic, Dr. Julie Ann Wambach offers her first work of fiction, Games of Make-Believe. She was born in Wisconsin to a large family and has always been interested in the dynamics of both her own family and those of her friends and acquaintances.

Having lived in Arizona for 50 years, Wambach knew Phoenix when it was a sleepy community and she watched the changes in size and population makeup as it grew into a huge metropolitan area. How these changes affected families led Wambach to create a work of fiction wherein a family with roots from outside Arizona struggled to make sense of who they were and how they might fit into the this complicated new world.

While their two grown children have settled elsewhere, Dr. Wambach and her husband still live in the Phoenix area.

Giveaway of Games of Make-Believe by Julie Ann Wambach

This giveaway is open to the Contiguous U.S. and ends on January 27, 2017 midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.