Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Book Review: Hope's Journey by Stephanie Connelley Worlton

When Sydney discovers she's pregnant, all her hopes and dreams go up in smoke.  Her boyfriend, Alex, was planning to serve a mission, but now that's out of the question for him, too.  Shaken by the consequences of what they've done, Sydney and Alex break up, and they each go on a path of self-discovery as they analyze what led them down their path and try to decide where to go from here.

Hope's Journey isn't your typical Mormon-girl-gets-pregnant story.  We see the events through both Sydney and Alex's eyes, and hear the thoughts that are going through their heads as they try to come to terms with the dramatic change their lives have gone through.

I did wish this book had done two things:  first, we start the story after Sydney has gotten pregnant, but just before she finds out.  I would have liked to see a little more about how these two kids went down the road to temptation.  What were the choices they made along the way that determined their outcome?  I think teen readers could benefit by reading this story and saying, "Oh, look - they're spending a lot of time together alone" or "Wait, they shouldn't be in her bedroom alone" or what-have-you.  It's a long series of small choices that lead to pregnancy, and if teens can stop that series before it starts, they can save themselves a lot of grief, and fiction is a great way to show that.

I also wished that we had seen a little more of the pregnancy itself.  I wanted to be more involved in the aches, pains, swelling feet, etc.  What can I say - I like cautionary tales, and I wanted this to be just a little more cautionary.

Overall, I enjoyed the book.  I felt it was well written, the characters were real, they each underwent a lot of growth throughout the book, and while I did want to wring Alex's neck a couple of times, he did straighten up in the end and become someone I could cheer for.  But seeing as how this novel is based on a true story, maybe I shouldn't say that, because I don't want the real Alex to be mad at me ...

You can purchase Hope's Journey here.

Or ... if you like, you can enter to win it by leaving a comment in the trail.  Be sure you're a follower of this blog, and then just tell me why you'd like to win the book.  I will randomly select a winner, and notify you if you are the one.  This giveaway will go until Friday night at midnight Mountain time, so be sure to leave your comment before then.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Book Review: The Spirit of Nora by Lyle Scott Lee

I am a sucker for historical fiction.  I'm a sucker for family history stories.  I'm a sucker for Russia.  So when I was contacted by author Lyle Scott Lee about reviewing his new novel The Spirit of Nora and learned that it contains all three of these elements, I was all over it.


From the back of the book:  Stretched across the backdrop of bustling New York, romantic Paris, and rural Russia in the early twentieth century, The Spirit of Nora vividly portrays the emergence of a young Minnesota woman into a fiercely independent spirit.  Leaving her home on the farm with her childhood friend Ella for nursing training in New York, Nora enters a changing world.  After befriending two doctors on the train east, Nora and Ella spend many evenings with Tristan and Soren.  But a terrible tragedy pulls Ella from Nora, who eventually travels farther east, searching for redemption for failing her friend.


Nora becomes wrapped up in the permissive lifestyle of French artists, embracing relationships with the lively Cassandra and talented Auguste.  While in France, she is confronted with physical temptations and spiritual uncertainty until she learns of the communal setting established on the estate of the Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy.  The spirit of Nora needs further nourishment for her wavering faith, and she continues yet farther east to Yasnaya Polyana to work with Tolstoy's translator.  Through the following years, Nora learns of hardship, love, war, and the difficulties in finding balance between right and wrong.  Ultimately, she must come face-to-face with the legacy of her lost friend.


This book was loosely based on the author's great-aunt, who was a nurse during the war and had many exciting adventures.  However, much of the book is fiction, the author using his aunt as the character to show events in world history.  This blending of fact and fiction was very interesting to me as I read, and I felt it lent a bit more authenticity to the historical fiction.


I enjoyed the emotions and the characterizations in the book quite a bit, and could easily picture the settings, whether we be on a train, in France, or in Russia.  The flavor was just right in each instance.  I did wish, however, that the book was longer.  We covered so much ground and so many aspects of the war that in order to do them each justice, we could have had a book of 400 pages or more, and yet the novel is only 275 pages. 


I will point out that there are some segments that I might categorize as PG to PG-13.  There are some hints about certain physical relationships Nora may have had with her friends in France, and we do see a scene between herself and a handsome Russian farmer later in the book.  I will say that it was rather short and not glamorized. 


If you are interested in purchasing this novel, you can do so here.


And, if you would like to win a copy of the book, all you have to do is make sure you're a follower of this blog (and if you're not, you can become one) and leave a comment in the trail telling me you'd like to win.  I will randomly select the winner at midnight on Saturday night, November 26th.


FTC:  I did receive a free copy of this novel for review, but that did not influence my statements whatsoever. 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Book Review: Bound by C. K. Bryant



Welcome to my review of Bound by C. K. Bryant and today's stop on the Dark C.A.R.M.A. blog tour.

Book Description:  When a photo shoot ends in tragedy, Kira discovers her best friend, Lydia, has been keeping a secret. Knowing the truth, and accepting it, will change Kira’s life forever and thrust her into a world of ancient curses, magical objects, and savage enemies. What happens next will challenge everything Kira knows about her world, herself and the shape-shifting warrior she’s falling in love with. No longer the timid mouse her mother accused her of being, but a woman who finds the mental and physical strength to endure and survive.

BOUND is a heroic tale of true friendship, infinite sacrifice and untamed love.



My Review:  Bound has all the elements that are making today's young adult novels so hard to resist - characters that mirror our own insecurities and then find out they are more capable than they imagined, trials to overcome, journeys to new worlds or into new trains of thought and new ideas, steps outside our known parameters, and - let's be honest - hot guys.  Octavion from Bound is one of my favorite new heroes, and I have to say, I'm a happily married woman, but he did make my heart go pitty-pat at least a couple of times.


Kira is a sympathetic main character.  We see where she's come from and we know she has the capacity to fulfill her dreams, but she doesn't know that at first.  We see her strength emerge as she's faced with challenges far beyond anything she ever anticipated, pulled into a battle between good and evil spanning two worlds.  In the midst of all this, we see her determination, loyalty, and passion for life. Much of this is true about author herself.


Each of the elements of the story are woven together with unique touches that could only come from C. K. Bryant.  Only a fertile imagination and polished storytelling skills could bring together such a powerful cast of characters, an out-of-this-world plot (literally), and wrap it up in such a compelling package.  


If you would like to own an autographed copy of Bound, you can click here to order.  If you would like a Kindle download, you can order it here.  You are also encouraged to go here and follow the Dark C.A.R.M.A. tour, enter to win, and learn about the other fantastic books being featured.


FTC:  Even though I was offered my very own fluffy white tiger, I did not accept it, (painful though it was to refuse) and the only compensation I received for this review was a copy of the book.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Jonah and the Great Fish - Movie Premiere and Giveaway!

I had a lot of fun with my family last night - we went to see the premiere of Liken the Scriptures' new movie Jonah and the Great Fish. It stars Jeremy Hoop (formerly known as Jeremy Elliot, best known for his roles in The Testaments and Charly) as the dad of Chloe, a teenage girl who is worried about attending school in a new city for the first time.  We meet Jonah, played by David Osmond, who is an enthusiastic prophet until he receives the call to go to Ninevah, a town peopled by fantastically choreographed gang members.  Also on hand are Humphrey, who really is a great fish when you get to know him, and Chum, his chipper friend, whose personality bears a resemblance to Dorrie of Finding Nemo fame.

We enjoyed going with Jonah as he tries to run away, only to get pulled back to his real purpose by God's grace and intervention.  We liked Chum's inarticulate attempts to make Humphrey feel better about himself.  We rocked out with the gang members and wished we were even remotely talented when it comes to dancing.  Here are the comments my family made afterwards:

My husband:  "I've got to get the soundtrack."
Me:  "Um, we have it."
My husband:  "Awesome!  I'm going to download it to my MP3."

My six-year-old:  "It was great.  My favorite part was where it first showed the girls in the crab costumes. Daniel and the Lions used to be my favorite, but now this one is."

My ten-year-old:  "I had three favorite parts.  The part where Chum was singing to Humphrey about how the sea would be a whole lot shallower without him, the part where the pirates were singing about the blue sea, and the song 'Whose Side Are You On.'"

My twelve-year-old:  "It was really entertaining.  I loved Chum and Humphrey, and the outtakes were pretty funny.  Their acting was hysterical, and I hope to see more from Liken soon."

My fifteen-year-old:  "I liked how they used an older girl to be the main character this time - I could relate to her nervousness about starting a new school.  Discovering that another girl had gotten shoved in a locker must have been scary.  I also liked how the movie was so funny."

Yes, those were meant to be cryptic teasers - we want you to see the show for yourself so you'll know what we're talking about!

Okay, now for the really fun part - Dennis Agle, who heads up Liken the Scriptures, has offered to give away one DVD of Jonah and the Great Fish to one of my lucky blog readers.  How awesome is that?  All you have to do is:

1.  Head on over to the Liken site and find out the name of the actor who played Humphrey the Great Fish.

2.  E-mail the name to me, putting "Blog Contest" in the subject line.

That's all you need to do!  You will be entered in a drawing to win the DVD, which will be mailed directly to you from the Liken studios.  All entries must be received by this Friday night (November 18th) at midnight Mountain Time, and the winner will be notified by e-mail on Saturday.

If you don't win and would still like a copy, you can order one here. We love the Liken products!

Monday, November 14, 2011

The Whitney Awards - Nominate!

Have you heard about the Whitney Awards? Pull up a chair and let's chat.


In the national market, you have a ton of prestigious book awards that are presented every year. You've got the Caldecott and the Newbury for children's books, the Edgar for mystery books, the Nebula and the Hugo for sci-fi, etc. The Whitney Awards honor excellence in LDS fiction. Established in 2007 by author Robison Wells, the Whitneys were created to help raise the bar in LDS fiction and showcase all the things that are so amazing about this market. It's been exciting to see how awareness of high-quality LDS books has risen since the awards program was launched.


How does it work? Let's say you've read a book by an LDS author recently that you really enjoyed. You head on over to the Whitney site, click "nominate," and fill out the form.  If the book was published in 2011, it is eligible for this year's award.  If it was published before ... sorry, too late, so be mindful of publication dates when nominating.  The book can be national or LDS, in any genre - just so long as the author is LDS.  The nomination goes in to the committee, and if that book gets five nominations, it's considered an official nominee.


All official nominees are read by the Whitney judges, who select the five most outstanding books in each genre.  Then the vote goes out to the Whitney Academy, made up of authors, bookstore owners, and other industry professionals.  It really is an amazing process, and if you click here, you can learn more about it, and, in fact, explained a whole lot better than I can here. 


I really appreciate the Whitney Award program because it gives LDS authors something amazing to shoot for and validation in a field where validation is sometimes hard to get.


I spoke with three of last year's Whitney winners about what it means to them to have received this award for their work.  


Julie Wright, winner of Best Romance for her novel Cross My Heart, said, "Receiving the Whitney Award was a huge validation. There have been lots of times I wondered what I was doing trying to be a writer, and lots of times where quitting felt like a good idea. For that one night—that one shining moment, I knew I was where I was supposed to be, and doing what I was supposed to be doing. As I held that award in my hands, I was immensely glad I hadn’t given up."


Stephanie Black, who won Best Mystery/Suspense for her novel Cold as Ice, said, "Being an author involves ups and downs. Book accepted--yay! Bad review--sigh. Great review--yay! Disappointing sales--sigh. And so on. There will always be potholes in the road. But because of the Whitney Awards, I can treasure the knowledge that a group of industry professionals found my work to be good--even award-worthy. That knowledge is incredibly validating." 






Annette Lyon, who won Best General Fiction for her novel Band of Sisters, said: "At (and after) the first Whitney Awards gala, I found myself crying like a little girl. I didn't win that night, although I'd been a finalist, but the tears weren't because I didn't get an award. They were because I caught the vision of what the Whitney program could be, and I felt overwhelmed and honored to have had a small part in the inception of something that would, I was sure, become wonderful and historic. 

"Ever since Robison Wells first told me about his idea for an awards program--and each year since--I wanted to receive a Whitney of my own, to have my work be considered good enough to be recognized by my peers as the best in its genre. Those at the gala for the 2010 awards (held May 2011) know that I was a pretty much a blubbering mess when my name was read and I received my very own Whitney Award. It now sits atop my writing desk, and I look at it often--whether I'm questioning my ability and needing a shot in the arm or sometimes even when I'm in a great mood. I glance up and smile. That night will always be a significant memory for me. I'm grateful to all those who have and who continue to work for the program---and maybe I'll manage to snag another gorgeous award some day in the future.

"I love that the Whitneys are doing the two things Robison hoped they would: first, to spread the word and bring to light the best fiction by LDS writers, and second, to raise the bar, encouraging LDS writers to get better and better at their craft. I believe that in the five years the Whitneys have existed, the quality of literature in the LDS market in particular has continued to go up, and that is immensely gratifying."


It was completely awesome to be one of the presenters to give Annette her Whitney.  L-R:  Danyelle Ferguson, my co-presenter; Annette, holding the beautiful award, and me, with my eyes closed, apparently.

Although still somewhat small, the Whitney Awards have grown every year.  Now headed by chairperson Josi S. Kilpack, they are heading into their fifth year, with nominations being accepted now for books published in 2011.  

Please take a moment to think about the superlative novels you've read this year that were penned by LDS authors, then head over to the Whitney site to nominate them.  You can nominate as many books as you like, all on the same form, even.  Each and every nomination is tallied by the Whitney committee.  You can do your part to bring LDS authors more into the spotlight and celebrate the good literature being created in this market.  You have until midnight on December 31st, 2011, to nominate books written in 2011, so be thinking!  Time is running out.

Friday, November 11, 2011

53 Pounds ...

I promised that I was going to post some pictures when I hit 50 pounds, and we took some, but my hair did not turn out, and I'm sorry, but I can't post pictures when I have bad hair. So, we redid them, and I lost another three pounds in the meantime, so here are some 53 pounds pictures. Um ... my shirt's a little big. Ignore that.




And there you have it! I'll post more pictures when I hit sixty.

On Veteran's Day ...

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

An Awesome Book for an Awesome Reason


Hey all,

My friend Robison Wells has just released an amazing book called VARIANT, and it's getting amazing reviews from some of the toughest national critics out there. Compared to Lord of the Flies with a twist, only not freakingly scary, it's taking the book lists by storm. Well, I'd like to encourage you to help it take those lists by storm. Tomorrow, Thursday, is the best day ever to order your copy of the book by clicking here.  If a whole bunch of us order the book on the same day, it will push it up higher on the bestseller list, and that would really mean a whole lot to Rob right now.  I'm going to leave it up to Larry Correia to explain why - click here to learn all about it, and then click here to order.  Buy one for yourself, for your friends, for your neighbors - be thinking Christmas gifts, birthday gifts - and be thinking about the power of reaching out to help others.

And ... if you purchase a copy of Rob's book before midnight Thursday night, and then come back here and tell me you did it, I will e-mail you a recipe out of the cookbook I'm currently writing.  Just a small little thank you.

Monday, November 07, 2011

November Giveaway Hop


Welcome to the November Giveaway Hop! I am delighted to co-host this event with I Am a Reader, Not a Writer, and we invite you to come play with us!

At the end of this post, you'll see a huge, giant, amazing list of blogs that are also participating. Each blog is offering a prize, and all you have to do is click the link and enter their contest. There will be winners! There will be madness! There will be mayhem! And you'll have a lot to be thankful for!

I'm feeling a little sad right now. I can't post a picture of my prize because I can't find my camera, and I've been looking all day. So I'll describe it. It's a cute shoulder tote just the right size for holding a few of your favorite trade paperback novels. It's black, white, red, and gray, with large polka dots. It's as cute as it can be. If I find my camera before this hop is over, I'll post a picture. :)

To enter:

1. Become a follower in the box labeled "People Who Think I'm Cool" on my left-hand sidebar. If you already are a follower, awesome!

2. Leave me a comment and tell me if you are a new follower or existing follower, and also, because it's November, the month of thankfulness, tell me one thing you're thankful for. US residents only.

That's it! Once you've done that, you are entered.

The winner will be notified by e-mail after the end of the hop. If your e-mail isn't visible through your Blogger profile, please include it in your comment so I know how to reach you.

Now go see what my bloggy friends are offering - you could win a prize on every single blog! Okay, not terribly likely, but possible . . .

Sunday, November 06, 2011

Why My Religion Permeates My Life

The other night, I was reading one of the quadrillion articles written about Mitt Romney and his run for the presidency. Of course his religion was the main topic. One of the comments left after the article said, and I paraphrase: "The problem with Mormons is that they have no boundary between religion and their lives. It permeates everything they are."

That's a problem?

What kind of religion would it be if it did not have a lasting impact on its members? What good would it do me to attend church for three hours every Sunday and then to go home and completely forget all about it the rest of the week? I might as well not attend at all, if I didn't let the things I learned on Sunday guide my choices throughout the rest of the week.

The fact is, I want my religion to permeate my life. I want to make decisions based on my knowledge of right and wrong. I've made this choice, not because I was coerced into it or because I'm too dumb to know better, but because I am happier, more fulfilled, more successful in the things I want to be successful in, when I live my life according to the principles I am taught on Sunday. And I believe this should be true of any religion. If you attend Mass, you should allow your Catholic faith to influence you throughout the week. If you attend synagogue, likewise, and down the list to include all religions. If church is something you leave in the parking lot as you drive away, it's no more than a way to kill a couple of hours.

My name is Tristi Pinkston, and I don't just attend the Mormon Church ... I am a Mormon.

Wednesday, November 02, 2011

Book Review: Tales from Huntsville, Eden, Liberty, and Beyond ...

Halloween is over, but that doesn't mean the spine-tingling has to end!

Nine writers from Eden, Utah, decided to challenge themselves by writing scary short stories. None of them had written this genre before, and wondered if they'd be able to pull it off. When they were finished, they decided to compile the stories into a book, and thus Tales from Huntsville, Eden, Liberty, and Beyond was born.

Each of the stories is definitely creepy, but I wasn't so terrified that I couldn't go to sleep afterwards - and that was a good thing for me. I like things to be a little creepy but not terrifying. I don't do the whole blood-n-guts, chainsaw massacre kind of thing. Each of these stories are more based on the unexplained or things that are perceived to be unexplained, without serial killers stalking someone through the darkness with bloody knives and all that.

If you'd like to extend your Halloween just a bit longer, check out this book. A quick read at less than 170 pages, it's the perfect size to keep next to your bed or tuck into your purse for whenever you want a little something to make you wonder ...

FTC: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my review and was not compensated in any other way, nor was I haunted by ghosts into reviewing it.
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