Svetlana's Reads and Views

I am really excited to tell you about an innovative new contest platform for both readers and writers. Laura Fabiani of iRead Book Tours is now a proud sponsor for World’s Best Story ! More and more authors and writers are discovering the power of readers. Books are written for the reader audience, so why not have a say in telling others we think a writer’s story has blockbuster potential? That’s what World’s Best Story allows you to do. In view of this, I hope you will join me in helping to spread the word and to sign up as a member of World’s Best Story to find talented storytellers and get great prizes.  But first let me tell you more about World’s Best Story. World’s Best Story was launched at BookExpo America on May 28. It’s the first social contest to reward readers and writers with exclusive partner prizes. So what does this mean for you? If you are a writer: 1. Submit your story. Entering is free and the entry period ends Aug 12. 2. Prizes include ...

Title: Good Chinese Wife; A Love Affair with China Gone Wrong Author: Susan Blumberg-Kason First copyright date: 2014 Type of book: China, 1990s, interracial relationship Asian male/white female, cultural differences, Hong Kong, making a life, career, university, keeping peace at all costs, China Wuhan (Hidden River), San Francisco, travel General subject matter: A young woman from USA falls for Cai Jun, a Chinese national and ends up marrying him, doing her best to be a "traditional" Chinese wife at the cost of her sanity. Special features: N/A Price: $ 14.99 ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-4022-9334-4 Summary: A stunning memoir of an intercultural marriage gone wrong When Susan, a shy Midwesterner in love with Chinese culture, started graduate school in Hong Kong, she quickly fell for Cai, the Chinese man of her dreams. As they exchanged vows, Susan thought she'd stumbled into an exotic fairy tale, until she realized Cai--and his culture--where not what sh...

Name of Book: Boy in a Band Author: Lisa Loomis ISBN: 9781478147855 Publisher: Createspace Type of book: sex, drugs, rock and roll, parasitic love relationship, broken heart, 1973-2000s? friendship, friendship with benefits, growing up, coming of age, worship, erotica, adult, mature, California, dreams, secret crush, broken heart Year it was published: 2010 Summary: Excerpt My heart was racing, my body melting into his. The sound of gulls squawking overhead, the children laughing in the distance, playing in the surf all faded away as I lost myself to him. The sound of the waves crashing in time with my emotions as we stood kissing, the water lapping at our feet, ignoring the outside world, aware only of each other. His hands moved to my hips, his fingers digging slightly into my skin as he held me against him. I pressed my pelvis forward, unable to deny the desire, and could feel his hardness. "Whoa, kid," he said, pulling away slowly. I gradually opened m...

Title of the book:  To Hold the Sun Author:   Chas Watkins Publisher: Ingram Press Publishing Date: 2014 ISBN: 9781489507648 Summary: When the author realized his children were leaving home to begin their journeys through life, he wrote this delightful and engaging story for them. It outlines the experiences of a young, poor, and disillusioned reporter who is enticed to do a series of articles about Paul, an unconventional philosopher and motivational speaker. In lieu of payment, he gets to travel to and dive on Roatan, arguably one of the most beautiful, pristine islands in the Caribbean. Through a series of meetings, the reporter gets to know Paul's innermost philosophies. He learns an alternate way of living from a man who strives to perfect handstands on a dock and practices the art of happiness. The author developed the book as a guide to help his children live their lives in a way that would allow them to enjoy the journey. Drawing on wildly diverse di...

Name of Book: Last Night at the Blue Angel Author: Rebecca Rotert ISBN: 978-0-06-231528-1 Publisher: William Morrow Type of book: Kansas, 1950s, 1965, Chicago, mother/daughter relationship, nuclear war, survival, anxiety, singing, jazz, performance, talent, experimenting with sex and sexuality, rags to riches, friendships, misfit family Year it was published: 2014 Summary: Set against the turbulence of 1960s Chicago, a city in transformation and its legendary jazz scene, Last Night at the Blue Angel is a lush and immensely heartfelt mother-daughter tale about a talented but troubled singer relationship with her precocious ten-year-old daughter. It is the early 1960s, and Chicago is teeming with the tensions of the day segregation, sexual experimentation, the Cold War and Vietnam but it is also home to some of the country's most influential jazz. Naomi Hill, a singer at the Blue Angel club, has been poised on the brink of stardom for nearly ten years. But when her...

Name of Book: The Sea Garden Author: Deborah Lawrenson ISBN: 978-0-06-227966-8 Publisher: Harper Type of book: France, Porquerolles, Paris, England, 2013, 1940s, connections, spying, WWII, bravery, perfumes, garden restoration, love, mystery Year it was published: 2014 Summary: Romance, suspense, and World War II mystery are woven together in three artfully linked novellas-rich in drama and steeped in atmosphere-from the critically acclaimed author of The Lantern THE SEA GARDEN On the lush Mediterranean island of Porquerolles off the French coast, Ellie Brooke, an award-winning British landscape designer, has been hired to restore a memorial garden. Unsettled by its haunted air and the bitterness of the garden's owner, an elderly woman who seems intent on undermining her, Ellie finds that her only ally on the island is an elusive war historian … THE LAVENDER FIELD Near the end of World War II, Marthe Lincel, a young blind woman newly apprenticed at a perf...

(Sorry I posted it a little late) LIFE ISN'T EASY But it's harder for our kind. For readers born knowing daddy's darkest secrets For eidetics reliving every humiliation For tier ones despised for being better No matter what you're feeling, you are not alone. We've all been there. Literally --- our suicide hotline is staffed entirely by brilliant volunteers. Everybody gets blue.   But if you're thinking about hurting yourself, call us first.     1-800-2BRIGHT   Just because you burn twice as bright . . . doesn't mean you should burn half as long. Air Force One was an hour shy of DC when the Secret Service agent told Cooper that he was wanted in the conference room. Across a military and agency career, Cooper had ridden on posh private jets and rattling Army transports, had soared in a glider over the Wyo ming desert and jumped out of a perfectly good C-17 with a chute on his back.  But Air Force One was unlike an...