Showing posts with label feminist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feminist. Show all posts

Friday, September 11, 2020

Copy Boy ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Review & Giveaway!


COPY BOY
BY SHELLEY BLANTON-STROUD
Narrated by April Doty

Genre: Adult Fiction (18+)
Categories: Noir, Historical Mystery, Literary
Publisher: She Writes Press
Release date: June 23, 2020
Content Rating:
PG-13 + M. The book includes: the F-word 7 times, the word "g--dammit" 4 times, and one violent fight in the beginning.

Book Description:

Jane’s a very brave boy. And a very difficult girl. She’ll become a remarkable woman, an icon of her century, but that’s a long way off. Not my fault, she thinks, dropping a bloody crowbar in the irrigation ditch after Daddy. She steals Momma’s Ford and escapes to Depression-era San Francisco, where she fakes her way into work as a newspaper copy boy.

Everything’s looking up. She’s climbing the ladder at the paper, winning validation, skill, and connections with the artists and thinkers of her day. But then Daddy reappears on the paper’s front page, his arm around a girl who’s just been beaten into a coma one block from Jane’s newspaper―hit in the head with a crowbar. Jane’s got to find Daddy before he finds her, and before everyone else finds her out. She’s got to protect her invented identity. This is what she thinks she wants. It’s definitely what her dead brother wants.

 
Review:


HALL WAYS REVIEW: Audio Book Review. Copy Boy, the debut novel by Shelley Blanton-Stroud, inserts readers into the 1930s and the life and mind of one young woman determined to find her way when no one cares to guide her--oh, except maybe her dead brother, Benny. 

"Any kind of family was better than none."

In main character Jane, Blanton-Stroud has written a complex, layered, often difficult to understand personality. Certainly, Jane's driven, but by what? By whom? From the outside looking in, readers will want to shake Jane straight and convince her that she needs to learn forgiveness, and honesty, and abundantly apply the lessons. Those lessons are complicated enough to learn under normal circumstances, but Jane's life is far from normal, primarily because it's the 1930s, and she's pretending to be a man in order to make a career for herself. And her mother has manipulated her into believing Jane owes her...a lot. And the father she left for dead seems to be alive and vengeful. Oh, and she's got the voice of her dead brother dominating her decision making. Did I mention that? The push-pull within Jane to remain loyal to her parents despite their horrible failures to her (and their just plain horrible-ness), and to remain loyal to her dead brother, is often painful. Readers are as desperate for Jane to find stability as Jane is herself. 


“Jane would fold up her achievement and file it in her hope chest, one more artifact in her historical record of Not Quite Yet.”

There is a pervasive melancholy that threads itself through Copy Boy, and even as Jane, then Jane-as-Benny, then Jane-as-pseudonym find successes, even triumphs here and there, it's not ever quite enough for Jane, for her employer, the people in her life, or for those gone from life. Like Benny. It is the Benny that dominates Jane's brain that is problematic for me. At times, Benny's presence is subtle, at other times, in your face. Later in the book, it got a little weird like a Smeagol-Gollum kind of internal struggle happening within Jane. Is it psychosis? Is she possessed? Clearly haunted, but whatever it is, I could have done with less of it or a better exploration of it. 

The Jane/Benny struggle is a place where I really have to give narrator April Doty kudos for navigating what must have been a very difficult landscape. In addition to Jane's internal dialogue with Benny, there is a wide cast of characters, male and female, young and old, with accents from Texan to Czechoslovakian. She handles them all with panache, lending unique voices so there's no confusion in who's talking. Her performance adds emotion, sarcasm, and attitude to Jane and her outlook. I listened on Authors Direct, and I really enjoy that platform because it allows for minor tweaks to the speed. Well done, all around.

Shelley Blanton-Stroud clearly has a gift for descriptions that are richly detailed and dialogue that creates a specific mood and tone for readers. Copy Boy is an intriguing story and reading it is time well spent and an impressive debut. I look forward to what's coming next from this author.

Thank you to iRead Book Tours and the author for providing me an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give.

Meet the Author:


Shelley Blanton-Stroud grew up in California’s Central Valley, the daughter of Dust Bowl immigrants who made good on their ambition to get out of the field. She teaches college writing in Northern California and consults with writers in the energy industry. She co-directs Stories on Stage Sacramento, where actors perform the stories of established and emerging authors, and serves on the advisory board of 916 Ink, an arts-based creative writing nonprofit for children. She has also served on the Writers’ Advisory Board for the Belize Writers’ Conference. Copy Boy is her first novel, and she’s currently working on her second. She also writes and publishes flash fiction and non-fiction, which you can find at such journals as Brevity and Cleaver. She and her husband live in Sacramento with an aging beagle and many photos of their out-of-state sons.


Connect with the author:   website  ~  twitter  facebook  ~ instagram bookbub


Enter the Giveaway:

FOUR WINNERS EACH WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD
courtesy of author Shelley Blanton-Stroud 
(ends September 24, 2020)
                             

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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Tour Schedule:
Aug 24 – Jazzy Book Reviews – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Aug 25 - Locks, Hooks and Books – audiobook review / giveaway
Aug 25 – fundinmental – book spotlight / giveaway
Aug 26 – Book Corner News and Reviews – book review / giveaway
Aug 27 – I'm Into Books – book spotlight / giveaway
Aug 28 – Reading Authors Network – book review / giveaway
Aug 28 - PuzzlePaws Blog - audiobook review / giveaway
Aug 31 – Sefina Hawke's Books – book spotlight
Sep 1 – Gina Rae Mitchell – book review / giveaway
Sep 2 – T's Stuff – book spotlight / guest post / giveaway
Sep 2 - Literary Flits – book review / giveaway
Sep 3 – She Just Loves Books – audiobook review / giveaway
Sep 4 –Pick a Good Book - book spotlight / giveaway
Sep 7 – Svetlanas reads and views – book review
Sep 8 – 100 Pages A Day – book review / giveaway
Sep 9 – Olio by Marilyn – book spotlight / author interview
Sep 9 - Olio by Marilyn – book review / giveaway
Sep 10 – Books for Books – audiobook review
Sep 11 – Hall Ways Blog – audiobook review / giveaway
Sep 14 – Amy's Booket List – audiobook review / giveaway
Sep 15 – Casia's Corner – book review
Sep 16 – Dab of Darkness Audiobook Reviews – audiobook review / author interview / giveaway
Sep 17 –Pen Possessed - book review / giveaway
Sep 18 - My Fictional Oasis – book review
Sep 18 - PuzzlePaws Blog - book review / giveaway






Wednesday, October 10, 2018

Chiseled ~ Audio Book Blog Tour Audio Excerpt, Review, & Giveaway!





CHISELED

Written By, Narrated By, and Published by:

DANUTA PFEIFFER

Length: 13 hours and 22 minutes

Released: May 22, 2018

Genre: Memoir



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A NOTE FROM HALL WAYS: YES, I am featuring this book on my blog for the third time -- it's that good. Get it in print, get it in audio, get it in both formats...but GET THIS BOOK. 
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In this gripping memoir, Danuta Pfeiffer grew up with parents as extraordinary as they were flawed. John and Patricia Rylko and their three children lived a nomadic life following the seasons to accommodate John's work as a gifted sculptor during the summers and as a philandering ski instructor in the winters. They lived in a circus tent, built their first cabin, and lost it for a dollar.


John Rylko flaunted his charm as a story teller, entrancing all who listened of his wartime glories as a Polish soldier and his silver medals in the 1936 Winter Olympics, while Patricia, a nurse, pulled double shifts at hospitals, hitchhiking to work and feeding her family off the land with roadkill deer and blackberry pies.

Those times of resiliency would have to sustain Danuta when she was raped and secretly gave birth to a baby. She escapes her enraged father on a daring journey to Alaska during the storm of the century.

Through betrayals and loss and her search for redemption, she becomes the unlikely co-host to a television evangelist bent on becoming the president of the US. When her past catches up to her, she is caught in the crosshairs of politics and religion. In a gutsy move, she abandons Christianity during a bicycle ride from Canada to Mexico and unravels her father's hidden life in the Carpathian Mountains of Poland, only to discover her own life hidden in the folds of resiliency, tenacity, and grit.

Danuta Pfeiffer now lives in a vineyard in Oregon, making fine wine with her husband Robin Pfeiffer.

Buy Links

  



Danuta (Soderman) Pfeiffer was a national radio and television broadcast journalist, columnist, and talk show host for 35 years. She is the author of 4 books; her first book, Watersafe Your Baby in Six Days, was the first book on teaching water survival skills to infants, and the first to be endorsed by the American Red Cross.

Danuta has been a Water Safety Instructor, a ski instructor, scuba diver, and long-distance bicycle rider, and once called the "most visible woman in modern Christianity today." She was known as the popular co-host of The 700 Club with Pat Robertson. (Her new book, Chiseled, can explain that.) But Danuta returned to her liberal roots expressing her Progressive views as a radio talk show host on radio stations affiliated with Air America.

She was the inspiration behind the Men of the Long Tom Grange Calendar, America’s first international nude spoof calendar that raised over $650,000 for the Junction City School District.

She was the founder of the Oregon Country Trails, Oregon’s first branded, agri-tourism system, representing businesses and attractions in rural Oregon. She served two years on the Oregon Travel Experience Board, appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber, and for over 20 years has chaired or volunteered at the annual Long Tom Grange Daffodil Drive Festival.

Danuta and her husband Robin own and manage Pfeiffer Winery and Vineyards in Junction City, Oregon--one of most reputable vineyards in the state, and one of the first wineries to be solar-powered. Their wine isn’t bad, either. Their 2007 Blue Dot Reserve Pinot noir was served during a private presidential dinner.

Today, she and Robin can often be found sharing their love of wine with friends and family at their winery, swimming in their country pond with their yellow labs, or sipping wine and watching for the first bats to fly at sunset at the top of their vineyard.

WebsiteTwitterFacebook

HALL WAYS REVIEWS: While I wasn't a reviewer on this tour, I had to be a part of it because the book is so wonderful. To read my reviews...


Spoiler Alert: I gave the book 5 Stars in both reviews. 😊

Giveaway
Prize: Amazon Echo Dot (2nd Gen)
Runs Oct. 7th-14th⎮Open internationally


Chiseled Giveaway: Amazon Echo Dot




Oct. 7th:
Dab of Darkness Book Reviews
The Book Junkie Reads . . .

Oct. 8th:
Patriotic Bookaholic

Oct. 9th:
T's Stuff

Oct. 10th:
Hall Ways Blog

Oct. 11th:
Jazzy Book Reviews

Oct. 12th:
The Book Addict's Reviews

Oct. 13th:
Writers N Authors

➜Sign up as a host here

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Chiseled: A Memoir of Identity, Duplicity, and Divine Wine by Danuta Pfeiffer

Chiseled: A Memoir of Identity, Duplicity, and Divine Wine by Danuta Pfeiffer. Narrated by Danuta Pfeiffer.
*Readers' Favorite International Gold Medal Winner; Eric Hoffer Finalist Award*
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5 STARS from HALL WAYS BLOG

Publication Date: (Audio) May 22, 2018
Publisher: Audible Audio Book
Length: 13 hours 22 minutes

Publication Date: February 12, 2015
Publisher: Luminare Press
Pages: 426

BOOK DESCRIPTION: Chiseled: to cut, to pare, shape with a chisel, to cut close,to employ unfair practices to obtain an end, to cheat, to defraud, to trick
Through betrayals and loss and her search for redemption an idealistic journalist becomes the unlikely co-host to a television evangelist bent on becoming the president of the United States. When her past catches up to her, she is caught in the cross hairs of politics and religion.

>>BUY THE BOOK<<
AMAZON     AUDIBLE


WATCH THE TRAILER!
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HALL WAYS REVIEW:  Audio and Print Review. I read this book in print three years ago, and when the author contacted me and asked if I’d listen to the new audio book format, I jumped at the chance. Even three years later, I remembered well the details of the book. Danuta Pfeiffer's Chiseled: A Memoir of Identity, Duplicity, and Divine Wine is the amazing story of Danuta's life -- filled with deception, devastation, and determination -- that takes readers on her courageous journey.  Told in three parts, Danuta begins at her beginning, as a god-fearing child, living a spartan life, under a father she revered despite his abusive hands. Her father's stories of obstacles he'd overcome in the war, in the most brutal of circumstances, carried Danuta through her own travails time and again, even as her father continued to reject her.  

“Women were expected to be seen but not heard. To be instructed but not instruct. To praise the Lord and pass the potatoes
-- but not to preach.”

For readers who remember Danuta (then Soderman) and her mysterious departure from being the co-host of The 700 Club with Pat Robertson, details are revealed of not only her departure, but of how CBN and Robertson operated behind-the-scenes. This provides fascinating insight into the sometimes-sordid world of televangelism, and it ultimately leads to Danuta's "losing God" for some time.  As Danuta navigates her life - out of work, married to an addict, and questioning the very existence of God - she always draws strength from her father's challenges and perseveres.  When she finally allows friendships into her life and allows herself to focus on her own needs, she finds true love with a winemaker, Robin Pfeiffer. Robin takes Danuta to Poland, where Danuta connects with her father's family, and discovers the truth and lies of her father's past.

"Memory is wickedly elusive and necessarily subjective.
Ultimately, this is the memory of a lie."

Many of her sentences are stunning, and the imagery truly takes the story to another level. For example, in talking about her father's decline into depression, Danuta wrote, "His change took place the way a shoelace comes undone, gradually unravelling what was once secure."  Or, when she speaks of her time with The 700 Club, she summarizes it by saying, "I had become a spiritual drug dealer imbued with the halo of power and celebrity, associated with the brokers of money and politics." Her characterization is excellent so that readers not only witness actions but understand and feel Danuta's emotions towards the characters who have the most impact on her life.

Particularly powerful is the story of Danuta's mother, Patricia, who is truly the hero of Danuta's life. In Patricia's strength and commitment to her family, Danuta finds a role model in a time when women were restricted by societal limitations. Throughout Danuta's life, her faith and relationship with God go through many iterations, and it is interesting to see her thought process at all stages and what ultimately leads her back to a life of faith. Sprinkled throughout the text were photographs from various times in Danuta's life, which enriched the story even further.

ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK: One word: OUTSTANDING. I loved this memoir when I read it, and I loved it when I read it with my ears and heard the author narrate her life for me.  It makes the already intimate feeling memoir feel even more intimate, more real (and more painful), and her triumphs more glorious. Pfeiffer’s training serves her well as her narration is perfectly paced and her voicing of various characters really enriches them. The voicing of her Polish relatives was particularly good. She nailed everything from the humor of her Uncle Frank to the awkwardness of his translating for others and the pain and confusion as Danuta tried to reconcile the father she thought she knew with the man his Polish family knew him to be.

Chiseled is a masterfully written story of a woman spending a lifetime searching to find peace, love, and acceptance within herself.  At times, readers will have to remind themselves that Chiseled is a memoir and not fiction. It is unbelievable that any one person endured all the heartache and challenges that Danuta faced, and even more amazing that she survived it and now lives a healthy, happy life.  I highly recommend Chiseled, as Danuta Pfeiffer eloquently shows that truth can be more dramatic and fascinating than fiction. Readers be prepared to be angry -- and possibly shed a few tears -- but in the end, feel inspired. 

Thank you to the author for reaching out to me and offering an audio download in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Danuta Pfeiffer graduated from the University of Colorado with a B.A. in Communications and Journalism with a minor in Philosophy.  She is a community activist, the author of three books, a motivational speaker, and a long-distance bicycle rider. She married Robin Pfeiffer, an Oregon wine grape grower she met through her newspaper ad.  He proposed in 12 days and they have been making wine and love together for more than 20 years.

                       TWITTER      FACEBOOK        


90 minute documentary -- coming soon!


Wednesday, October 11, 2017

The Girl Who Said Sorry


Yim, H. (2017). The Girl Who Said Sorry. Rhyming Reason Books.

All Ages (target ages 5-7) / Feminism / Empowerment

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BLURB: Too girly or too boyish. Too thin or too fat. Too quiet, too loud. Be ambitious, but don't hurt feelings. Be inquisitive, but don't interrupt. Be outspoken, but don't be bossy. Most of all, be yourself--but be a lady.

What's a girl to do in a world filled with contradicting gender expectations, aside from saying sorry?

The way we teach politeness norms to children is often confusing, changing based on gender--and can have lasting effects. And while everyone should be courteous and accountable for their actions, apologetic language out of context can undermine confidence and perceived capability.

Within the subtle yet beautiful illustrations and powerful rhyme of The Girl Who Said Sorry, developing girls will learn that self-expression and personal choices can be made without apology, and with confidence.

50% of profits from this book is donated to Girl Up, a United Nations Foundation campaign dedicated to empowering young girls to take action on global issues.


Connect with the Book:
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HALL WAYS REVIEW: When I received a review request from Hayoung Terra Yim, what first caught my attention was her self-description (see "About the Author" below). It is her mission "to highlight the realities of the gender apology gap to young girls" that made me give a quick reply (YES!) to reviewing The Girl Who Said Sorry.  What a good move!

Using a parallel sentence structure and some rhyming, The Girl Who Said Sorry delivers a much-needed message to girls to stop apologizing and to resist mixed messages and double-standards put upon them. (You're too thin, but should you have that cookie?) As the main character goes through different experiences where she's constantly apologizing for not meeting someone else's standards, she has an epiphany (accompanied by a fabulous burst of swirling colors) and realizes that automatically saying sorry must stop.

Enhancing this story are the simple but eye-catching, expressive illustrations (by Marta Maszkiewicz), which are formatted so that side-by-side pages have a complete scene to support the text. Even the inside cover pages and dedication pages have subtle and not-so-subtle illustrations to make a point. For example, if readers look closely at the pattern on the inside cover pages, they'll notice it's made of pointing fingers!  The colors pop here and there without overwhelming readers, which helps make the illustrations the perfect complement to the text.   

The final two spreads of the book NAIL the messages we want young girls (and us not-so-young girls as well) to hear: never apologize for being authentic and true to yourself. Plus, the message is conveyed not in the trendy screw-everyone-it's-all-about-me way, but in a thoughtful way that reminds readers that you can be yourself without hurting others.

If all the above reasons are not enough to buy multiple copies of The Girl Who Said Sorry for the females in your life, this should be: 50% of the sales profits will be donated to Girl Up, a United Nations Foundation campaign dedicated to empowering young girls to act on global issues.  Sold!

Thank you to the author for providing me a digital review copy of this book (and I WILL be purchasing several print copies) in exchange for my honest opinion -- the only kind I give.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Hayoung Yim is a third-wave feminist, environmentalist, advocate for evidence-based public policies, and diverse writer.  A UofT graduate in political science and English, she strives to highlight issues to developing children in an approachable manner.  She lives in Toronto, Canada, where she dreams about implementing social change through popular culture.


In her spare time, she likes to travel through time and space.



PURCHASE LINKS:







Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Badlands ~ ~ ~ Blog Tour, Bonus Review, & Giveaway!


BADLANDS
Sawbones, Book 3
by
MELISSA LENHARDT
!!NEW RELEASE!!

  Genre: Historical / Western / Action-Adventure / Romance
Publisher: Redhook
Date of Publication: June 27, 2017
Number of Pages: 416

SCROLL DOWN FOR GIVEAWAY!



Outlander meets post-Civil War unrest in the conclusion to Melissa Lenhardt's fast-paced historical series.
Laura's worst fears have been realized: Kindle has been taken into custody and she is once again on the run. The noose awaits her in New York, but Laura is realizing that there are some things worse than death. Finally running out of places to hide, it may be time for Dr. Catherine Bennett to face her past.

PURCHASE LINKS:





Melissa Lenhardt is the author the Jack McBride mystery series, as well as the Laura Elliston historical fiction series. Her debut mystery, STILLWATER, was a finalist for the 2014 Whidbey Writers’ MFA Alumni Emerging Writers Contest, and SAWBONES, her historical fiction debut, was hailed as a "thoroughly original, smart and satisfying hybrid, perhaps a new subgenre: the feminist Western" by Lone Star Literary Life. A lifelong Texan, she lives in the Dallas area with her husband and two sons.




HALL WAYS REVIEW 
BLOOD OATH, Book 2 in the Sawbones Series

This series makes me want to start a book club or fan club or SOMETHING where I can just sit around and talk about the stories -- and I haven't even read book three (yet!). I am thoroughly hooked. 

Melissa Lenhardt is a master at manipulating her readers. We're high! We're low! We're yes, and we're oh-hell-no! (Thank you, Train/Save Me San Francisco, for that inspiration.) As with book one of the series, Sawbones, Blood Oath is brutal in its depiction of the mentality of life on the frontier. Lenhardt weaves-in actual people and events from the 1800s to bring an extra level of realism, and both the truths and the fiction ain't pretty. Sensitive reader: consider yourself warned. 

At the very heart of the story is our main character, the woman who goes by Catherine or Laura or Charlotte or Sophia, depending on the situation. Though her name changes often, her strength and fortitude really stay consistent. No matter how mentally or physically beaten, bruised, and abused, she perseveres.  Less consistent is her love interest, William Kindle. He is also beaten, bruised, and abused, and he shows great strength and perseverance, but in Blood Oath, for me, he came dangerously close to losing his luster a few times. There is a huge cast of characters, old and new, and they are richly crafted to leave lasting impressions. From Native Americans to Quakers, priests to Pinkertons, readers are given insight into a variety of mindsets and attitudes towards women, as women were beginning their fight for rights and equality.

The action is non-stop, and even as Laura and Kindle are waging battles at every turn, it is Laura’s battle with herself that is sometimes the most damaging. She can’t escape or move on from the horrible memories of abuse and she can’t reconcile what she’s become – a killer – to the Hippocratic Oath she took. The reader must never relax while reading Blood Oath. All I will say about that is this: when you least expect it, expect it.

The book is well-written and cleanly edited. Lenhardt has a way with words and is deliberate in her word choices to convey specific impressions of character and place.  (Admittedly, there were a few words I had to look-up!) The book isn’t meant to stand alone, and I wouldn’t recommend trying it that way. The only way to truly make the journey with Laura is if you start it with her. Block out a few days, then read Sawbones and make sure you have Blood Oath and Badlands at the ready. Then block out another day or two to recover – this series will wear you out in the best possible way. 

I won a BEAUTIFUL signed copy of this book in a giveaway, so thank you to the author for my copy! And thanks to Lone Star Book Blog Tours for allowing me to post my bonus review on the tour in exchange for my honest opinion – the only kind I give.  


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GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!
 Three Winners 
1stBadlands paperback;       2ndBadlands eBook; 
3rdBadlands audio download via Downpour
June 27-July 6, 2017
(U.S. Only)

CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
6/27
Notable Quotable 1
6/27
Notable Quotable 2
6/28
Review: Blood Oath
6/28
Review: Badlands
6/29
Review: Blood Oath
6/29
Review: Badlands
6/30
Review: Blood Oath
6/30
Review: Badlands
7/1
Review: Blood Oath
7/1
Review: Badlands
7/2
Badlands Excerpt 1
7/3
Bonus Review
7/4
Bonus Review
7/5
Badlands Excerpt 2
7/6
Badlands Excerpt 3

   blog tour services provided by


 
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CLICK FOR HALL WAYS PRINT REVIEW
CLICK FOR HALL WAY AUDIO BOOK REVIEW