So as I'm sure you can tell by the title of this post, I'm still behind with my mail call posts, but I have some time now to get caught up, or at least try to get caught up on some of my blog things. Hopefully I'll not get behind again (not likely). Without further ado, here is August's book mail.
That Woman by Michael Morisaki
Synopsis
Ashley Fisher was born with extraordinary physical and mental powers. She can move with lightning speed and she can think as fast. She uses her speed combined with martial arts skill to rescue victims of mugging, robbery and kidnapping in Los Angeles and in New York City. She becomes, in turn, a police offi cer, an assistant DA and a criminal defense attorney.Unlike the vigilante in Death Wish, she acts to assert her prowess, not out of revenge. She disables criminals, not kill them. Ashley is not another Wonder Woman though as beautiful. She, at times, portrays herself as a man and she has faults: extreme naivete, narcissism and obsession with the genetic basis of her prowess.Those she rescues refer to her as "that woman.
Watchdog by Darrell Issa
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
You might think you had a front-row seat to the shocking scandals of Benghazi, the IRS targeting of conservatives, Fast & Furious, illegal email servers, mishandling America's secrets and cover-ups at the EPA. The rest of the story, told here for the first time, is even more troubling. In WATCHDOG, Congressman Darrell Issa reveals some of the worst of Washington, pulls back the curtain on business as usual in the Capitol, and lets in the sunshine of accountability.
As Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Issa led a years-long fight to uncover what was really happening in the Obama Administration and Hillary Clinton's State Department, while taking on a mainstream media and establishment Beltway culture he quickly found out weren't always interested in the truth.
But what the public doesn't know about Big Government and what the people may not realize is happening to their country requires someone in Washington willing to tell the truth no matter who gets the blame.
Carrying out aggressive oversight brought Issa into conflict with not only political foes, but friends and allies as well. Through it all, he has sought to remind everyone in government they are still subject to the rule of law and accountable to the American people. WATCHDOG is the inside account of what it took to get the truth and what it will take for our democracy to endure.
The Calamity Cafe by Gayle Leeson
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
First in a new cozy mystery series featuring Southern cooking that is to die for.
Aspiring chef and small-town Virginia native Amy Flowers is ready to open her own café offering old-fashioned Southern food. But her dream may go up in smoke when someone kills the competition...
Tired of waiting tables at Lou’s Joint, Amy Flowers doesn’t just quit—she offers to buy the place from her bully of a boss, so she can finally open the café of her dreams. Amy can't wait to serve the kind of Southern, down-home treats and dishes that her grandmother always loved to the kooky cast of regulars at the restaurant. She knows her comfort food will be the talk of the sweet, small town of Winter Garden, Virginia.
At first Lou Lou refuses to sell, but when she seems ready to make a deal, she tells Amy to come see her. Showing up at the eatery ready to negotiate, Amy is shocked to find her former employer murdered. As the prime suspect, Amy will have to clear her name by serving up the real killer—and with Lou Lou’s stack of enemies, that’s a tall order.
Includes delicious Southern recipes!
Dolce Vita Confidential by Shawn Levy
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
From the ashes of World War II, Rome was reborn as the epicenter of film, fashion, creative energy, tabloid media, and bold-faced libertinism that made “Italian” a global synonym for taste, style, and flair. A confluence of cultural contributions created a bright, burning moment in history: it was the heyday of fashion icons such as Pucci, whose use of color, line, and superb craftsmanship set the standard for women’s clothing for decades, and Brioni, whose confident and classy creations for men inspired the contemporary American suit. Rome’s huge movie studio, Cinecitta, also known as “Hollywood-on-the Tiber,” attracted a dizzying array of stars from Charleton Heston, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Ava Gardner, and Frank Sinatra to that stunning and combustible couple, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who began their extramarital affair during the making of Cleopatra. And behind these stars trailed street photographers—Tazio Secchiarioli, Pierluigi Praturlon, and Marcello Gepetti—who searched, waited, and pounced on their subjects in pursuit of the most unflattering and dramatic portraits of fame.
Fashionistas, exiles, moguls, and martyrs flocked to Rome hoping for a chance to experience and indulge in the glow of old money, new stars, fast cars, wanton libidos, and brazen news photographers. The scene was captured nowhere better than in Federico Fellini’s masterpiece, La Dolce Vita, starring Marcello Mastroianni and the Swedish bombshell Anita Ekberg. It was condemned for its licentiousness, when in fact Fellini was condemning the very excess, narcissism, and debauchery of Rome’s bohemian scene.
Gossipy, colorful, and richly informed, Dolce Vita Confidential re-creates Rome’s stunning ascent with vivid and compelling tales of its glitterati and artists, down to every last outrageous detail of the city’s magnificent transformation.
The Ninjja Sutra by Neelam Phadke
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
No matter how healthy you are, at some point you will encounter the confusion that is the health care system. While there are plenty of books tackling the health care system from an academic or political perspective, few consider it from a personal-but-objective viewpoint, and none illustrate its ins and outs with the clever clarity and imaginative humor that The Ninjja Sutra does.
Reading like a narrative, the story follows Ninjja, a woman who believes she benefits from the “always stay fit” genes of her mother, as she begins to experience unexpected health issues. Not wanting to bother with doctors, she tries to find solutions on her own. Meanwhile, her father, who has a weak physical disposition, blindly trusts anyone wearing a white coat and embraces the system with open arms. As destiny forces Ninjja to face the health care system, she begins to see it as a drama played by comical characters, but is surprised to learn how the behind-the-scenes crew plays an even bigger role than the more familiar cast.
Blending comedy with pathos, The Ninjja Sutra exposes the health care ecosystem while offering practical, bite-sized advice on how to use it to your advantage and how make it better, one thing at a time.
Population by Elizabeth Stephens
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Lawlessness, violence and desperation are all that is left of the world following the coming of the Others. Abel exists only within the boundaries that her rules allow - rules that she created to keep her alive. But when her best friend's daughter is taken by the Others, she can't keep playing by the rule book. Instead, she must begin a life defining journey that will test her survival techniques and bring all of her instincts into question. When she finds herself allied with one of the Others, Abel must confront foreign concepts like allegiance and desire and trust as he challenges her ability to find what she has always feared: hope.
*This series is a science fiction romance and some violent and graphic content may not be suitable for young readers*
The Knot by J.A. Alldredge
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Kaitlin is discovered frantically digging up her grandmother's grave in the cemetery of a lunatic asylum. Catherine was buried there decades ago. But for some reason, Kaitlin has stubbornly refused to believe that her grandmother is actually dead.
Twenty years earlier, Kaitlin's father, sister-in-law, and nephew, all perished under bizarre circumstances. At the time, there was no rational explanation. Kaitlin and her brother Charlie are the only two people who may know how they were all killed together on the same night. Unfortunately, no one has been willing to believe their incredible story. And now it appears that Kaitlin will be locked away inside that very asylum where her grandmother supposedly died. There is one last chance to solve the mystery of those unnatural deaths. And one last chance to save Kaitlin from becoming a permanent resident of the insane asylum. If only someone could find a way to believe what she has been saying over all those years.
It will require calling in Dr. Alexander Edge--since he is the only person who possess the supernatural abilities to discover the real truth. And he is most definitely the only person who would be willing to believe her incredible story. Dr. Edge must use his mystical amulet to peer inside of her mind--to finally reveal the unbelievable truth kept hidden deep within the mind's eye.
Introducing Dr. Edge
In order to create a superhero there must always be some great disaster or personal tragedy that brings about their incredible transformation. But what makes a person superhuman is not necessarily the incredible new power that they miraculously acquire. They already possessed some superhuman quality. And that tragic trans-formative event is only the catalyst needed to reveal their real hidden inner power--a genuine unconquerable desire to achieve something greater than human.
While seeking enlightenment in India, Dr. Edge is miraculously rescued from the icy grasp of death just at the last moment. He is saved by a beautiful female deity, known by the Guru to be an Apsara (a Hindu Goddess). She chooses to share with him a supernatural gift. Something reserved for only the most pure of heart. It is a mystical amulet--an emerald third eye--bestowing upon him incredible powers of inner sight. Allowing Dr. Edge to not only see, but to actually experience what his patients believe to have happened to them--everything that they are most afraid to share--ideas and memories they desperately try to keep hidden deep within their subconscious minds.
Now, when Dr. Edge uses the amulet to delve into the depths of the human psyche he discovers a reality that is far stranger than anything he could ever have imaged possible.
In this Dr. Edge series, follow along as he uses his supernatural power to try and solve bizarre paranormal mysteries--as revealed within the mind's eye.
Ali vs. Inoki by Josh Gross
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
“Inoki can use his bare fists. He can use karate. This is serious. There’s $10 million involved. I wouldn’t pull a fraud on the public. This is real. There’s no plan. The blood. The holds. The pain. Everything is going to be real. I’m not here in this time of my life to come out with some phony action. I want you to know this is real."
—Muhammad Ali, June 14, 1976, The Tonight Show
On June 26, 1976, Muhammad Ali fought in a mixed-rules contest against iconic pro wrestling champion Antonio Inoki for the so-called “martial arts championship of the world.” Broadcast from Tokyo to a potential audience of 1.4 billion in 34 countries, the spectacle foreshadowed and, in many ways, led to the rise of mixed martial arts as a major sport.
The unique contest was controversial and panned by wrestling and boxing supporters alike, but the real action was behind the scenes. Egos, competing interests, and a general sense of apprehension over what would happen in the ring led to hodgepodge rules thrown together at the last minute. Bizarre plans to “save” Ali if the fight got out of hand were even concocted.
In Ali vs. Inoki, author Josh Gross gets inside Ali’s head leading up to the match by resurrecting pre-fight interviews. Gross also introduces us to Inoki, the most famous face in Japan who was instrumental in shaping modern mixed martial arts.
The King of Shanghai by Ian Hamilton
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
The seventh novel in the Ava Lee series finds Ava getting caught up in the election for the chairmanship of the Triad Societies.
Ava steps into her new business with May Ling Wong and her sister-in-law, Amanda. On a trip to Shanghai, Ava meets with Xu, a young man Uncle had been mentoring and who is also the head of the Triad in Shanghai. Xu makes an audacious business proposal that she and May are compelled to consider. Meanwhile, separately and privately, he confides to Ava that he intends to run for the chairmanship of the Triad Societies and attempts to recruit her as his adviser and confidante.
Against her will, Ava becomes enmeshed in Triad warfare and her future is threatened . . .
Girl in the Afternoon by Serena Burdock
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Born into a wealthy Parisian family at the center of Belle Epoque society, 18-year-old Aimée Savaray dreams of becoming a respected painter in the male-dominated art world; and secretly, she also dreams of being loved by Henri, the boy her parents took in as a child and raised alongside her.
But when Henri inexplicably disappears, in the midst of the Franco-Prussian war, the Savarays’ privileged lives begin to unravel. Heartbroken, Aimée tries to find him, but Henri doesn’t want to be found—and only one member of the family knows why.
As Aimée seeks refuge in the art world, mentored by the Impressionist Édouard Manet, she unwittingly finds her way back to Henri. With so many years gone by and secrets buried, their eventual reunion unmasks the lies that once held the family together, but now threaten to tear them apart.
A rich and opulent saga, Girl in the Afternoon brings the Impressionists to life in this portrait of scandal, fortune, and unrequited love.
Second Grade Spelling Challenge by Lynn Marie Lusch
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Seven year old Lindsey loves learning new things! When her second grade teacher decides to challenge her class, and has them learn five "big" words for a special spelling test, the whole class is in a panic! This is taking them out of their comfort zone, but the rewards are huge and each one is determined to succeed.
Lindsey and Melissa are also having a "hand-made" jewelry sale this weekend. They both want to earn enough money for special reasons. Will they have enough time to accomplish both?
A very busy and challenging week for Lindsey.
Clipped Wings by Corinna Montgomery
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
This book is the biography of my family. I was born in East Germany in 1962, my entire family was imprisoned in 1979 for attempting to flee the socialist state. It described live in the socialism and the fall of the wall. We have to learn from history, because if we don't , history will repeat it's self!
Her One and Only by Becky Wade
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Romance Fans Eagerly Anticipate Every New Release from Becky Wade
Gray Fowler, star NFL tight end, is being pursued by a stalker, so his team hires a protection agency to keep Gray under the watch of a bodyguard at all times. When Gray meets Dru Porter, an agent assigned to him, he's indignant. How can an attractive young female half his size possibly protect him?
But Dru's a former Marine, an expert markswoman, and a black belt. She's also ferociously determined to uncover the identity of Gray's stalker. And she's just as determined to avoid any kind of romantic attachment between herself and the rugged football player with the mysterious past. But the closer they get to finding the stalker, the closer they grow to each other. As the danger rises, can Dru and Gray entrust their hearts--and their lives--to one another?
The Revenge of the Goddess by Revati Kapur
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Nineteen-year-old Devi lives in a sleepy town in India, in a house where her uncle is in charge and her parents struggle due to their lack of sons. Devi has been groomed all her life to become a good and obedient wife. In spite of her discomfort with the tradition, she agrees to an arranged marriage.
Devi soon finds that her relationship with her in-laws is difficult, and Hari, her new husband, is cold and distant. Eventually she joins him in the United States, hoping that things will improve once they are together in their own home. Although at first Devi is eager to please him and be a happy and dutiful wife, she is quickly disillusioned. In the years that follow, she struggles against all odds to free herself and find happiness in her new home despite her husband. When Devi finally gives birth to a daughter, her resolve is strengthened: she will protect both of them and build a new and independent life. But when her goal is in sight, circumstances change, and her life is forever altered in a way she could not have imagined.
Set in India and the United States during the 1970s, this novel tells the story of one young woman's struggle to empower herself within the confines of an unhappy arranged marriage.
Good People by Nir Baram
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
It's late 1938. Thomas Heiselberg has built a career in Berlin as a market researcher for an American advertising company.
In Leningrad, twenty-two-year-old Sasha Weissberg has grown up eavesdropping on the intellectual conversations in her parents' literary salon.
They each have grand plans for their lives. Neither of them thinks about politics too much, but after catastrophe strikes they will have no choice.
Thomas puts his research skills to work elaborating Nazi propaganda. Sasha persuades herself that working as a literary editor of confessions for Stalin's secret police is the only way to save her family.
When destiny brings them together, they will have to face the consequences of the decisions they have made.
Nir Baram was born into a political family in Jerusalem in 1976. He has worked as a journalist and an editor, and as an advocate for equal rights for Palestinians. He began publishing fiction when he was twenty-two, and is the author of five novels in Hebrew. Several have been translated into more than ten languages and received critical acclaim around the world. In 2010 he received the Prime Minister's Award for Hebrew Literature.
Guy Novel by Michael Ryan
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
Guy Novel marries a thriller to a shameless love story and fun ride, what Graham Greene might have called "an entertainment."
It takes place over one month in 1996, from early August to early September, as the Taliban were about to take over Afghanistan, Bill Clinton was running for re-election, most people still used answering machines, and HotMail became the latest new thing.
The story is told retrospectively but vividly by Robert Wilder, a less-than-successful LA comic who creates big problems for himself by picking up a gorgeous bank clerk on the afternoon of his wedding. These problems have the happy resolution of the conventional plot of comedy: boy meets girl, boy loses girl (twice), boy gets girl (and vice-versa), but there are lots of turns along the way and lots of jokes and lots of play with the gendered conventions of Romance.
The political and historical moment enters with a vengeance halfway through the story, and spirits our he-roes to places as different as a five-star Paris hotel, Clinton's White House, and a yurt in Turkmenistan, while Robert learns something about loving another person for exactly who she is.
Not an easy lesson to learn--for him or for any of us--but the medicine goes down effortlessly with the clarity and grace and laugh-out-loud humor of Michael Ryan's widely-circulated, wildly-celebrated writing.
The Golden-Syph: Life with a Price by I.G. Orozco
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| Photo Credit: Goodreads |
Synopsis
"Three immortals created two kids: one from mud and the other from water. Everything was great until the kids went to the forbidden place and got kidnapped by their greatest enemy, Ethipius, king of Darkness. Ethipius used the kids’ powers to conquer many galaxies and made all worlds have darkness and no sign of life, but only man and very few animals survived. Now it’s up to one immortal to save all of mankind, by doing the impossible, to bring back nature once again. He will face weird, metal giants, demons who are servants of Ethipius and even face the Prince of Assassins. At the end, the immortal survived and brought nature once more, but Ethipius will come back for revenge."
The author is a fifteen year old girl who is completing her dreams of becoming an author. Even with many troubles with family's debts, her disabilities in language and so on did not stop her from writing her first novel and getting help from a publishing company.She hopes to actually captivate the audience and see them enjoying her work.
And that is all the books that I got in the mail in the month of August. It was a very slow month for book mail for me, probably the slowest I've ever seen. But I think September made up for it. Stay tuned for that post in the next couple days. - Katie
