Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: Trail of the Chupacabra: An Avery Bartholomew Pendleton Misadventure Author: Stephen Randel ISBN: 978-0988222519 Publisher: Knuckleball Press Part of a Series: Chupacabra Series Type of book: Mexico, humor, suspense, betrayal, gangs, Chupacabra, mystery, voodoo, Texas, Austin, global theories Year it was published: 2013 Summary: Avery Bartholomew Pendleton is back, and he’s just as crazy as ever. Avery is a paranoid loner obsessed with global conspiracy theories who spends most of his time crafting absurd and threatening letters to anyone who offends him. That means pretty much everyone. Still convinced of the existence of the mythical Mexican chupacabra*, Avery enlists the assistance of the Southwest Texas Revolutionary Armed Confederate Border Operations Militia (STRAC-BOM) and their manic leader, General X-Ray, to help him invade Mexico. Accompanied by Ziggy, a burned-out hippy, and an uncommonly large iguana named Nancy, the group follows the ad...

Name of Book: Fifty Shades of Grey Author: EL James ISBN: 9781612130293 Publisher: Vintage Part of a Series: Fifty Shades Type of book: abuse, fanfiction, plagiarism, fifty shades of grey, bdsm, America Washington, British slang, insult to injury, milking the cow Year it was published: 2011 Summary: When literature student Anastasia Steele goes to interview young entrepreneur Christian Grey, she encounters a man who is beautiful, brilliant, and intimidating. The unworldly, innocent Ana is startled to realize she wants this man and, despite his enigmatic reserve, finds she is desperate to get close to him. Unable to resist Ana’s quiet beauty, wit, and independent spirit, Grey admits he wants her, too—but on his own terms. Shocked yet thrilled by Grey’s singular erotic tastes, Ana hesitates. For all the trappings of success—his multinational businesses, his vast wealth, his loving family—Grey is a man tormented by demons and consumed by the need to control. When the ...

Name of Book: Rising of a Dead Moon Author: Paul Haston ISBN: 9781480025370 Publisher: Createspace Type of book: 1800s, Africa, India, widowhood, destiny vs free will, spirituality, white male/Indian female, progressiveness, prejudice Year it was published: 2012 Summary: An Indian girl is forced into an arranged marriage then widowed. She escapes a widow's burning and flees to Africa to find the father who has abandoned her. **WHOLE BOOK CURRENTLY FREE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD** Click 'Read Book' below the picture. Set against a backdrop of 19th century Indian Indenture, the shipment of Indians to work on white-owned sugar plantations in Natal, Paul Haston's critically acclaimed novel is a story of hope and tragic drama Characters: Usha is a beautiful sixteen year old woman who recently became a widow. She was married for four years and her husband passed away. She then bore the stigma of being a widow and after being turned away from her mother s...

Book to be reviewed: Rising of a dead Moon by Paul Haston (e-book) An Indian girl is forced into an arranged marriage then widowed. She escapes a widow's burning and flees to Africa to find the father who has abandoned her. **WHOLE BOOK CURRENTLY FREE TO VIEW OR DOWNLOAD** Click 'Read Book' below the picture. Set against a backdrop of 19th century Indian Indenture, the shipment of Indians to work on white-owned sugar plantations in Natal, Paul Haston's critically acclaimed novel is a story of hope and tragic drama. What I'm Reading right now: A Deconstructed Heart by Shaheen Ashraf-Ahmed (e-book) Mirza is a middle-aged Indian college professor whose wife has left him. He moves out of his house into a tent in his back garden, where he sets up an outdoor classroom and serves tea to his kind but bewildered neighbors. He is visited by the irritable spirit of his long-dead teacher, Khan Sahib, who is befuddled by the dysfunctions of modern life. In the...

Name of Book: Doug and Carlie Author: Lisa Smartt ISBN: 9780615703589 Publisher: Smartt Speaking Part of a Series: Doug and Carlie Type of book: christianity, faith, finding soul-mate, south, author, big city vs small town, community, death, renewal, romance, clean Year it was published: 2012 Summary: Carlie once ate a whole lemon meringue pie. But she regrets it. She regrets it the way a drunk regrets downing a bottle of Jack Daniels. It was soothing and horribly depressing all at the same time. Carlie, a 32-year-old employee at the Dollar General Store in Commerce, Georgia, dreams of love and literary success, in that order. But love and literary success don’t always come easy, especially for a tall woman with a big behind who stocks canned sweet potatoes for a living. She’s ten years late on college and only has $167.29 in the bank. In her estimation, she’s late on finding love too. The good news? Sometimes there are rewards for late bloomers. Characters: ...

The captivating chronicle of four generations of the Sandonitsky family - immigrants from a Polish ghetto. This is the powerful drama of their struggle to achieve the American dream without losing their spiritual hreitage as success drives them westward to Oakland, California. A complelling novel about human needs, passions and conflicts which reach tempestuous heights. JACOB whose newfound wealth could never fill the aching void inside him. . SARA who sacrificed everything in the name of love -even her daughter. SHLOMO who kept the family's disgrace a secret, and paid the price. RACHEL whose forbidden love for one man drove her into the arms of another. DORIS a Cinderella who achieved fame and happiness beyond her wildest dreams. For my take on this book, please click on the link here: COMING UP 4 out of 5 (0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and...

Name of Book: A Country Doctor Author: Sarah Orne Jewett ISBN: 1-883011-34-5 Publisher: College editions Type of book: country, city, sea, doctors, personal choice vs society, ward, orphan, feminism, career vs marriage, 1800s Year it was published: 1884 Summary: Though not as well-known as the writers she influenced, Sarah Orne Jewett nevertheless remains one of the most important American novelists of the late nineteenth century. Published in 1884, Jewett’s first novel, A Country Doctor, is a luminous portrayal of rural Maine and a semiautobiographical look at her world. In it, Nan’s struggle to choose between marriage and a career as a doctor, between the confining life of a small town and a self-directed one as a professional, mirrors Jewett’s own conflicts as well as eloquently giving voice to the leading women’s issues of her time. Perhaps even more important, Jewett’s perfect details about wild flowers and seaside wharfs, farm women knitting by the fireside and ...

Name of Book: Push not the river Author: James Conroyd Martin ISBN: 978-0-312-31153-7 Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Part of a Series: Push not the river Type of book: Poland, Russia, Partition, 1779, 1791-1794, loyalty, secrets, betrayal, war, conflict, love triangle, feminist, destiny, fate Year it was published: 2003 Summary: A panoramic and epic novel in the grand romantic style, Push Not the River is the rich story of Poland in the late 1700s--a time of heartache and turmoil as the country's once peaceful people are being torn apart by neighboring countries and divided loyalties. It is then, at the young and vulnerable age of seventeen, when Lady Anna Maria Berezowska loses both of her parents and must leave the only home she has ever known. With Empress Catherine's Russian armies streaming in to take their spoils, Anna is quickly thrust into a world of love and hate, loyalty and deceit, patriotism and treason, life and death. Even kind Aunt Stella, ...

Name of Book: The Thread of a Thousand Miles Author: Alan Yang ISBN: 9781482748413 Publisher: Createspace Type of book: World War 2, christianity, missionary, secrets, China, interracial Asian male/white female, romance, love, marriage, destiny, fate Year it was published: 2013 Summary: The encounter of an Asian man and an American woman in Guangzhou sparked a love affair that would put the age-old Chinese saying, "A marriage of a thousand miles is strung by a single thread," to test. Jin and Lucia came from two different worlds. They had no clue about each other's identity or their ancestors' secret past. Their romance was couched in a family saga dating back to World War II. Their passion for each other grew and blossomed at a time when love was forbidden. How would Jin and Lucia's family mysteries be unraveled? Would they be able to tackle the odds against them? Would their love ever be consummated? Filled with twists and turns, this story p...