BookSpin Excerpt:

Excerpt from:

It is Only Money and It Grows on Trees!
by Cara Macmillan, MBA
Halcyon Consulting Publishing
Trade Paperback



“Open your workbooks. The first thing we need to do is write down your first memory of money. This should be easy for you. Write down the first thing that comes to mind.” 


Catherine watched as the students began writing. 


“The reason that we do this assignment is because we want to see what memory first formed our relationship with money.” 


Angela spoke up. “My first memory with money is actually a feeling; a feeling of fear. Let me tell the story. My first child was born, and on the second day of his life, I locked us in my room and refused to come out. I was terrified. As long as everyone left us alone, I was calm. His father somehow understood that I just needed to be alone, so he graciously brought me my meals and sat quietly with me. I fed our son, but I would not let him out of my sight. It was weird, but we both just knew it was something that I had to get through. A few years later, I met my birth mother. She told me that on the second day of my life, she left. ‘I would have kept you if I had had the money.’ 


“At that moment, so much made sense. When we became a family, I was driven to build financial security. I guess for me money meant belonging.” 


Then Sean spoke up. “My parents always paid for everything. They made a big deal out of picking up the bills when we visited family from out of town. It was all show all the time. I wanted a pair of skates, and they bought them for me. But they were three sizes too big. I remember always being in pain and discomfort. I had the basics, but they never really gave me anything that I wanted. Presents were practical. I am not complaining. But then, when they were with extended family, they would buy and buy. I guess money was love. 


“But later it was so sad. When my mom was in assisted living and could not afford to buy and buy, she was no longer invited to family events, and few people came to visit. She was angry, and I could understand why. The only ones who visited her were her immediate family, who she had taken for granted.” 


Amal then spoke. “Money was our ticket out of there. In order to qualify for economic-based immigration, we had to have a certain amount of wealth as a family and bring it to our new country. My parents worked so hard to save so that we could come. They wanted us to grow up without violence in the streets. But it was so sad. Dad was a doctor in our country, but here he drives a taxi. Mom was an engineer, but here she works in retail. We no longer wonder if we will be shot today, but we are poor.” 


Zoe said, “My first memory of money is different. I had a new dress for Easter and I hated it. My grandmother kept telling me how beautiful I was. It was the first time I remember her paying much attention to me. She said that she was proud of me. So I learned that if I wanted her to be proud of me, I needed beautiful clothes.” 


“You see,” said Catherine, “our memories are the reactions that we had to money or what it could buy when we were younger. And we carry the extra baggage of our memories and our feelings with us into the present. But we can move on from here if we choose.” 


“How?” asked Zoe. 


“Well, we need to decide who we truly are today. Remember, money is used for the exchange of resources. The resources that we need and want are based on who we are and how we live. To define who we are, we need to know what our values are. This can be different from our parents’ values, our grandparents’ values, or our memories of them. Our values can be based on our culture and what we are taught, but they are also based on our experiences. 



What is your first memory of money? How were you raised to view money?

* * * * * * * * * * *

It Is Only Money and It Grows on Trees!, by Cara MacMillan, is a narrative that explores how the concept of money differs throughout various world religions and cultures. It also looks at ways in which readers can increase their own wealth through consideration of these practices. 


The story takes place in a classroom where a teacher named Catherine has written the word, Money, in large capital letters on the blackboard. She invites her students to help her define what money is. The students propose varying answers, and Catherine explains how each of these different definitions comes from our cultural, religious, family, and economic backgrounds. 


“This is not a get rich quick book – it is a book about authenticity,” says MacMillan. “When we learn to break free of our patterns and choose to recognize that money is just a resource, we too can become rich and truly enjoy today.” 


Praise 


“It Is Only Money is a well-written and imaginative multi ethnic and multi-cultural look at acquiring wealth. I loved the give and take between Catherine, the teacher, and the diverse group of students who are in her class. Through this device, the author explores the role of money in Hindu, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and other religions….” – 5 Stars, Readers' Favorite 

“I have absolutely loved reading It Is Only Money and It Grows on Trees by Cara MacMillan. I definitely recommend it. It’s a fun, quick and easy read.” - Eat, Drink, and Save Money 


“It Is Only Money tackles personal finance from a perspective I had never really seen or thought about before, providing stories of how money and finances are viewed by various cultures and religions around the world.” - Ditching the Daily Grind 


“For as much time as we spend talking about what to do with money, I think we’d all benefit from taking a step back every once in a while and having a discussion about what money really is, what it means to us, and how that meaning shapes our behavior. It is Only Money and It Grows on Trees by Cara MacMillan does exactly this. With a super-readable narrative, Cara explores how different cultures, religions, and personal backgrounds shape peoples’ views of money… Overall, It is Only Money and It Grows on Trees is a great resource to help you to pause and reflect on where your views about money come from and what you can do to approach money in a healthier way. With that new knowledge and the lessons you’ll learn about the other views out there, you’ll find yourself in a better position to make sound choices about how to handle your money and build a better future for yourself and those around you.” - Keep Thrifty 


“The story keeps your interest, while the classroom stories and discussion will keep you thinking. If you are looking for a break from the normal personal finance book, with ‘how to’ steps I would suggest It Is Only Money.” – Debt Discipline 


“Honestly, this is one of the only books that deals with finance and money that I could not only read cover to cover, but also understood and enjoyed reading…Totally a five-star book!” – Dhwani Swadia, There and Their 


About the Author 

Cara Macmillan, MBA

Cara MacMillan is a thought leader in sustainability and financial management. She has the privilege of teaching and learning with courageous individuals who are committed to making a difference for themselves, their world, and future generations. As a thought leader, Cara regularly publishes in the areas of personal finance and investments. 


As an adjunct professor in the School of Business at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Canada, her vision is to empower people to think and act for themselves financially. 

She also serves as a Climate Reality Leader in The Climate Reality Leadership Corps. This group is a global network of activists committed to taking on the climate crisis by providing training in climate science, communications, and organizing to tell the story of climate change and inspire communities everywhere to take action. The result is a dynamic group of world-changers shaping the conversation on climate in forums from family dinners to international summits and building a 21st-century movement for solutions. 


Cara lives in Ottawa with her life partner and best friend, David, and their two children. She is currently working on her next book, Make Big Money and Make a Big Difference, for readers who want to learn how to invest in responsible companies and opportunities. It is due out later this year. 

Readers can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads. 

To learn more, go to http://caramacmillan.com/.

In My TBR Stack:

a piece of the world
by Christina Baker Kline
William Morrow
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the smash bestseller Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of friendship, passion, and art, inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s mysterious and iconic painting Christina’s World.

"Later he told me that he’d been afraid to show me the painting. He thought I wouldn’t like the way he portrayed me: dragging myself across the field, fingers clutching dirt, my legs twisted behind. The arid moonscape of wheatgrass and timothy. That dilapidated house in the distance, looming up like a secret that won’t stay hidden." 

To Christina Olson, the entire world was her family’s remote farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. Born in the home her family had lived in for generations, and increasingly incapacitated by illness, Christina seemed destined for a small life. Instead, for more than twenty years, she was host and inspiration for the artist Andrew Wyeth, and became the subject of one of the best known American paintings of the twentieth century. 

As she did in her beloved smash bestseller Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline interweaves fact and fiction in a powerful novel that illuminates a little-known part of America’s history. Bringing into focus the flesh-and-blood woman behind the portrait, she vividly imagines the life of a woman with a complicated relationship to her family and her past, and a special bond with one of our greatest modern artists. 

Told in evocative and lucid prose, A Piece of the World is a story about the burdens and blessings of family history, and how artist and muse can come together to forge a new and timeless legacy.

On My Radar:

Change of Seasons: A Memoir
by John Oates with Chris Epting
St. Martins Press
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Includes an exclusive EP as a companion to the book!

John Oates was born at the perfect time, paralleling the birth of rock ‘n roll. Raised in a small Pennsylvania town, he was exposed to folk, blues, soul, and R&B. Meeting and teaming up with Daryl Hall in the late 1960s, they developed a style of music that was uniquely their own but never abandoned their roots. John uncovers the grit and struggle it took to secure a recording contract with the legendary Atlantic Records and chronicles the artistic twists and turns that resulted in a DJ discovering an obscure album track that would become their first hit record. This is not your typical rock and roll story. John was focused creating great music. Along the way he achieved incredible success, battling the ever-changing pop music landscape and coming to terms with complex managerial, business, and personal challenges.

Daryl Hall and John Oates have over 20 albums together, more than 60 million records sold, and 29 Top 40 hits. They are the most successful pop duo in the world and members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And yet John’s story has never been told. Relying on his many hand-written journals, he brings to light many fascinating stories spanning his entire life with a journalist’s eye and a poet’s heart.

In Change of Seasons, John shares his highs, lows, triumphs, and failures. He takes the reader on a wild ride through all the eras, personalities and music that has shaped him into what he is.

On My Radar:

The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Math Genius, a Gang of Backstabbing Bankers, and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History
by David Enrich
Custom House
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

The Wall Street Journal's award-winning business reporter unveils the bizarre and sinister story of how a math genius named Tom Hayes, a handful of outrageous confederates, and a deeply corrupt banking system ignited one of the greatest financial scandals in history.

In 2006, an oddball group of bankers, traders and brokers from some of the world’s largest financial institutions made a startling realization: Libor—the London interbank offered rate, which determines the interest rates on trillions in loans worldwide—was set daily by a small group of easily manipulated functionaries, and that they could reap huge profits by nudging it to suit their trading portfolios. Tom Hayes, a brilliant but troubled mathematician, became the lynchpin of a wild alliance that among others included a French trader nicknamed “Gollum”; the broker “Abbo,” who liked to publicly strip naked when drinking; a Kazakh chicken farmer turned something short of financial whiz kid; a broker known as “Village” (short for “Village Idiot”) and fascinated with human-animal sex; an executive called “Clumpy” because of his patchwork hair loss; and a broker uncreatively nicknamed “Big Nose.” Eventually known as the “Spider Network,” Hayes’s circle generated untold riches —until it all unraveled in spectacularly vicious, backstabbing fashion.

The Spider Network is not only a rollicking account of the scam, but a provocative examination of a financial system that was crooked throughout, designed to promote envelope-pushing behavior while shielding higher-ups from the consequences of their subordinates’ rapacious actions.

In My TBR Stack:

Ike and McCarthy: Dwight Eisenhower's Secret Campaign Against Joseph McCarthy
by David A. Nichols
Simon and Schuster
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Revealed for the first time, this is the full story of how President Dwight Eisenhower masterminded the downfall of the anti-Communist demagogue Senator Joseph McCarthy.

Behind the scenes, Eisenhower loathed McCarthy, the powerful Republican senator notorious for his anti-Communist witch hunt. In spite of a public perception that Eisenhower was unwilling to challenge McCarthy, Ike believed that directly confronting the senator would diminish the presidency. Therefore, the president operated with a “hidden hand,” refusing even to mention the Senator’s name.

In Ike and McCarthy, David A Nichols shows how the tension between the two men escalated. In a direct challenge to Eisenhower, McCarthy alleged that the US Army was harboring communists and launched an investigation. But the senator had unwittingly signed his own political death warrant. The White House employed surrogates to conduct a clandestine campaign against McCarthy and was not above using information about the private lives of McCarthy’s aides as ammunition.

In January 1954 McCarthy was arguably the most powerful member of the Senate. By the end of that year, he had been censured by his colleagues for unbecoming conduct. Eisenhower’s covert operation had discredited the senator months earlier, exploiting the controversy that resulted from the televised Army-McCarthy hearings. McCarthy would never recover his lost prestige. Nichols uses documents previously unavailable or overlooked to authenticate the extraordinary story of Eisenhower’s anti-McCarthy campaign. Ike and McCarthy is an eye-opening, newsworthy, and fascinating read.

In My TBR Stack:

Attending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity
by Ronald Epstein, M.D.
Scribner
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

The first book for the general public about mindfulness and medical practice, a groundbreaking, intimate exploration of how doctors think and what matters most—safe, effective, patient-centered, compassionate care—from the foremost expert in the field.

As a third-year Harvard Medical School student doing a clinical rotation in surgery, Ronald Epstein watched an error unfold: an experienced surgeon failed to notice his patient’s kidney turning an ominous shade of blue. In that same rotation, Epstein was awestruck by another surgeon’s ability to avert an impending disaster, slowing down from autopilot to intentionality. The difference between these two doctors left a lasting impression on Epstein and set the stage for his life’s work—to identify the qualities and habits that distinguish masterful doctors from those who are merely competent. The secret, he learned, was mindfulness.

In Attending, his first book, Dr. Epstein builds on his world-renowned, innovative programs in mindful practice and uses gripping and deeply human clinical stories to give patients a language to describe what they value most in health care and to outline a road map for doctors and other health care professionals to refocus their approach to medicine. Drawing on his clinical experiences and current research, and exploring four foundations of mindfulness—Attention, Curiosity, Beginner’s Mind, and Presence—Dr. Epstein introduces a revolutionary concept: by looking inward, health care practitioners can grow their capacity to provide high-quality care and the resilience to be there when their patients need them.

The commodification of health care has shifted doctors’ focus away from the healing of patients to the bottom line. Clinician burnout is at an all-time high. Attending is the antidote. With compassion and intelligence, Epstein offers a crucial, timely book that shows us how we can restore humanity to medicine, guides us toward a better overall quality of care, and reminds us of what matters most.

Fiction Friday:

Mangrove Lightning: A Doc Ford Novel

by Randy Wayne White

G.P. Putnam's Sons

Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

The ghosts of a 1925 multiple murder stalk Doc Ford in the electrifying new novel in the New York Times–bestselling series.
 
Doc Ford has been involved in many strange cases. This may be one of the strangest. A legendary charter captain and guide named Tootsie Barlow has come to him, muttering about a curse. The members of his extended family have suffered a bizarre series of attacks, and Barlow is convinced it has something to do with a multiple murder in 1925, in which his family had a shameful part.

Ford doesn’t believe in curses, but as he and his friend Tomlinson begin to investigate, following the trail of the attacks from Key Largo to Tallahassee, they, too, suffer a series of near-fatal mishaps. Is it really a curse? Or just a crime spree? The answer lies in solving a near-hundred-year-old murder…and probing the mind of a madman.

In My TBR Stack:

The Someday Birds
by Sally J. Pla
Harper Books
Trade Paperback

My mom read this book and loved it ! -- BookDude

From the publisher's website:

The Someday Birds is a debut middle grade novel perfect for fans of Counting by 7s and Fish in a Tree, filled with humor, heart, and chicken nuggets.

Charlie’s perfectly ordinary life has been unraveling ever since his war journalist father was injured in Afghanistan. 

When his father heads from California to Virginia for medical treatment, Charlie reluctantly travels cross-country with his boy-crazy sister, unruly brothers, and a mysterious new family friend. He decides that if he can spot all the birds that he and his father were hoping to see someday along the way, then everything might just turn out okay.

Debut author Sally J. Pla has written a tale that is equal parts madcap road trip, coming-of-age story for an autistic boy who feels he doesn’t understand the world, and an uplifting portrait of a family overcoming a crisis.

On My Radar:

The 1997 Masters: My Story
by Tiger Woods with Lorne Rubenstein
Grand Central Publishing
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

To mark the twentieth anniversary of his historic win at the 1997 Masters, Tiger Woods will for the first time reflect on the record-setting win both on and off the course.

In 1997, Tiger Woods was already among the most-watched and closely examined athletes in history. But it wasn't until the Masters Tournament that his career would definitively change forever. Woods, then only 21, won the Masters by a historic 12 shots, which remains the widest margin of victory in the tournament's history, making it an iconic moment for him and sports.

Now, 20 years later, Woods is ready to explore his history with the game, how it has changed over the years, and what it was like winning such an important event. With never-before-heard stories, this book will provide keen insight from one of the game's all-time greats.

On My Radar:

Grace Notes: My Recollections
by Katey Sagal
Gallery Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Gripping, singular, and gorgeously reflective, Grace Notes is a memoir told in essays by beloved actress, Hollywood veteran, and singer/songwriter Katey Sagal—perfect for fans of Mary Louise Parker’s Dear Mr. You and Patti Smith’s M Train.

Popular and award-winning star Katey Sagal chronicles the rollercoaster ride of her life in this series of evocative and beautifully written vignettes, resulting in a life story recounted unlike any other Hollywood memoir you’ve read before.

Sagal takes you through the highs and lows of her life, from the tragic deaths of her parents to her long years in the Los Angeles rock scene, from being diagnosed with cancer at the age of twenty-eight to getting her big break on the fledgling FOX network as the wise-cracking Peggy Bundy on the beloved sitcom Married…with Children.

Sparse and poetic, Grace Notes is an emotionally riveting tale of struggle and success, both professional and personal: Sagal’s path to sobriety; the stillbirth of her first daughter, Ruby; motherhood; the experience of having her third daughter at age fifty-two with the help of a surrogate; and her lifelong passion for music. Intimate, candid, and offering an inside look at a remarkable life forged within the entertainment industry, Grace Notes offers unprecedented access to the previously unknown life of a woman whom audiences have loved for over thirty years.

Fiction Focus:

A Simple Favor
by Darcey Bell
Harper Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:


She’s your best friend.

She knows all your secrets.

That’s why she’s so dangerous.

A single mother's life is turned upside down when her best friend vanishes in this chilling debut thriller in the vein of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train.

It starts with a simple favor—an ordinary kindness mothers do for one another. When her best friend, Emily, asks Stephanie to pick up her son Nicky after school, she happily says yes. Nicky and her son, Miles, are classmates and best friends, and the five-year-olds love being together—just like she and Emily. A widow and stay-at-home mommy blogger living in woodsy suburban Connecticut, Stephanie was lonely until she met Emily, a sophisticated PR executive whose job in Manhattan demands so much of her time. 

But Emily doesn’t come back. She doesn’t answer calls or return texts. Stephanie knows something is terribly wrong—Emily would never leave Nicky, no matter what the police say. Terrified, she reaches out to her blog readers for help. She also reaches out to Emily’s husband, the handsome, reticent Sean, offering emotional support. It’s the least she can do for her best friend. Then, she and Sean receive shocking news. Emily is dead. The nightmare of her disappearance is over.

Or is it? Because soon, Stephanie will begin to see that nothing—not friendship, love, or even an ordinary favor—is as simple as it seems. 

A Simple Favor is a remarkable tale of psychological suspense—a clever and twisting free-fall of a ride filled with betrayals and reversals, twists and turns, secrets and revelations, love and loyalty, murder and revenge. Darcey Bell masterfully ratchets up the tension in a taut, unsettling, and completely absorbing story that holds you in its grip until the final page.

On My Radar:

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries
by Kory Stamper
Pantheon
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Many of us take dictionaries for granted, and few may realize that the process of writing dictionaries is, in fact, as lively and dynamic as language itself. With sharp wit and irreverence, Kory Stamper cracks open the complex, obsessive world of lexicography, from the agonizing decisions about what to define and how to do it, to the knotty questions of usage in an ever-changing language. She explains why small words are the most difficult to define, how it can take nine months to define a single word, and how our biases about language and pronunciation can have tremendous social influence. And along the way, she reveals little-known surprises—for example, the fact that “OMG” was first used in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917.

Word by Word brings to life the hallowed halls (and highly idiosyncratic cubicles) of Merriam-Webster, a startlingly rich world inhabited by quirky and erudite individuals who quietly shape the way we communicate. Certain to be a delight for all lovers of words, Stamper’s debut will make you laugh as much as it makes you appreciate the wonderful complexities and eccentricities of the English language.

On My Radar:

The Rules Do Not Apply: A Memoir
by Ariel Levy
Random House
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

When thirty-eight-year-old New Yorker writer Ariel Levy left for a reporting trip to Mongolia in 2012, she was pregnant, married, financially secure, and successful on her own terms. A month later, none of that was true.

Levy picks you up and hurls you through the story of how she built an unconventional life and then watched it fall apart with astonishing speed. Like much of her generation, she was raised to resist traditional rules—about work, about love, and about womanhood.

“I wanted what we all want: everything. We want a mate who feels like family and a lover who is exotic, surprising. We want to be youthful adventurers and middle-aged mothers. We want intimacy and autonomy, safety and stimulation, reassurance and novelty, coziness and thrills. But we can’t have it all.”

In this profound and beautiful memoir, Levy chronicles the adventure and heartbreak of being “a woman who is free to do whatever she chooses.” Her own story of resilience becomes an unforgettable portrait of the shifting forces in our culture, of what has changed—and of what is eternal.

In My TBR Stack:

Printer's Error: Irreverent Stories from Book History
by J.P. Romney and Rebecca Romney
Harper Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

A funny and entertaining history of printed books as told through absurd moments in the lives of authors and printers, collected by television’s favorite rare-book expert from HISTORY’s hit series Pawn Stars.

Since the Gutenberg Bible first went on sale in 1455, printing has been viewed as one of the highest achievements of human innovation. But the march of progress hasn’t been smooth; downright bizarre is more like it. Printer’s Error chronicles some of the strangest and most humorous episodes in the history of Western printing, and makes clear that we’ve succeeded despite ourselves. Rare-book expert Rebecca Romney and author J. P. Romney take us from monasteries and museums to auction houses and libraries to introduce curious episodes in the history of print that have had a profound impact on our world.

Take, for example, the Gutenberg Bible. While the book is regarded as the first printed work in the Western world, Gutenberg’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on it. Today, Johannes Gutenberg is recognized as the father of Western printing. But for the first few hundred years after the invention of the printing press, no one knew who printed the first book. This long-standing mystery took researchers down a labyrinth of ancient archives and libraries, and unearthed surprising details, such as the fact that Gutenberg’s financier sued him, repossessed his printing equipment, and started his own printing business afterward. Eventually the first printed book was tracked to the library of Cardinal Mazarin in France, and Gutenberg’s forty-two-line Bible was finally credited to him, thus ensuring Gutenberg’s name would be remembered by middle-school students worldwide.

Like the works of Sarah Vowell, John Hodgman, and Ken Jennings, Printer’s Error is a rollicking ride through the annals of time and the printed word.

On My Radar:

Cheech is Not My Real Name: ...But Don't Call Me Chong

Cheech Marin

Grand Central Publishing

Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Cheech Marin came of age at an interesting time in America and became a self-made counterculture legend with his other half, Tommy Chong. This insightful memoir delves into how Cheech dodged the draft, formed one of the most successful comedy duos of all time, became the face of the recreational drug movement with the film Up in Smoke, forged a successful solo career with roles in The Lion King and, more recently, Jane the Virgin, and became the owner of the most renowned collection of Chicano art in the world.

Written in Cheech's uniquely hilarious voice, this memoir will take you to new highs.

Fiction Focus:

Every Wild Heart: A Novel
by Meg Donohue
William Morrow
Trade Paperback

From the publisher's website:

From USA Today bestselling author Meg Donohue comes a mystery, a love story, and a mother-daughter tale about two women on a precarious journey to uncover their true selves.

Passionate and funny, radio personality Gail Gideon is a true original. Nine years ago when Gail’s husband announced that he wanted a divorce, her ensuing on-air rant propelled her local radio show into the national spotlight. Now, “The Gail Gideon Show” is beloved by millions of single women who tune-in for her advice on the power of self-reinvention. But fame comes at a price. After all, what does a woman who has staked her career on being single do when she finds herself falling in love? And is the person who is harassing her in increasingly troubling ways a misguided fan or a true danger to Gail and her daughter, Nic? 

Fourteen-year-old Nic has always felt that she pales in comparison to her vibrant, outgoing mother. Plagued by a fear of social situations, she is most comfortable at the stable where she spends her afternoons. But when a riding accident lands Nic in the hospital, she awakens from her coma changed. Suddenly, she has no fear at all and her disconcerting behavior lands her in one risky situation after another. And no one, least of all her mother, can guess what she will do next…

On My Radar:

Walking to Listen: 4,000 Miles Across America, One Story at a Time
by Andrew Forsthoefel
Bloomsbury USA
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

A memoir of one young man's coming of age on a cross-country trek--told through the stories of the people of all ages, races, and inclinations he meets along the highways of America.

Life is fast, and I've found it's easy to confuse the miraculous for the mundane, so I'm slowing down, way down, in order to give my full presence to the extraordinary that infuses each moment and resides in every one of us.At 23, Andrew Forsthoefel walked out the back door of his home in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, with a backpack, an audio recorder, his copies of Whitman and Rilke, and a sign that read "Walking to Listen." He had just graduated from Middlebury College and was ready to begin his adult life, but he didn't know how. So he decided he'd walk. And listen. It would be a cross-country quest for guidance, and everyone he met would be his guide.

Walking toward the Pacific, he faced an Appalachian winter and a Mojave summer. He met beasts inside: fear, loneliness, doubt. But he also encountered incredible kindness from strangers. Thousands shared their stories with him, sometimes confiding their prejudices, too. Often he didn't know how to respond. How to find unity in diversity? How to stay connected, even as fear works to tear us apart? He listened for answers to these questions, and to the existential questions every human must face, and began to find that the answer might be in listening itself.

Ultimately, it's the stories of others living all along the roads of America that carry this journey and sing out in a hopeful, heartfelt book about how a life is made, and how our nation defines itself on the most human level.

BookSpin Review:

Kept in the Dark
by J. Ronald M. York
St. Broadway Press, LLC
Hardcover


  I wanted to read KEPT IN THE DARK primarily because of the Nashville connection -- I have a nearly insatiable desire to read true stories about cities I've lived in.  The dark subject matter gave me pause as I wasn't sure I wanted to read about sordid family secrets.

 It has to take a lot of something I don't have to share such a "controversial and uncomfortable" secret with the public.  My first question was "Why?"  According to York, "...my hope in sharing this would be that it might help someone in a similar situation."  This is an admirable position, and one I cannot doubt is true.

York's story takes us from his youth in Florida until his adulthood in Nashville.  After his Father's death, he found a box of letters that had been written between his parents during an eight-month* period in the 1950's that resulted in York feeling anger, hurt, confusion, and frustration. I can only imagine the feeling, upon discovering such a family secret, that you can never ask your parents any questions.  All you get is what the letters tell you and what you intuit or learn though them.

I don't like giving too many specific details in these little reviews that I do, so I won't tell you the secret.  If you guess, you'll probably get close, but not exactly spot on.

Kept in the Dark is a quick read, if a little sad.  There are lots of victims (of various types) in the book, but the writer does seem to have a more level head than I would in this situation.  I have to commend him for the courage to tell his story and for the strength to not be angry.

- - - - - - - -

From the author's website:

The jail was located on the top 9 floors of the Dade County Courthouse in downtown Miami. The young father could look down from the 21st floor, to the street below. His wife and child would come each night, stand on the sidewalk and wave to him. They would flash the car lights to signal they were there and he, in return, would strike a match from his window to let them know he was watching. Although separated by just a few miles, they were only able to see each other each Sunday, for 2 hours, through glass and wire. Writing letters became their way of communicating and 100 letters were exchanged during an 8-week period.

This was a secret my parents, family and a few close friends took to their graves. No one ever told me and I was too young to remember. And yet, a box containing the letters, yellowed newspaper clippings, faded photographs and cards of encouragement from friends was left for me after everyone was gone. 

Although the crime took place more than 60 years ago, it is still as current as today’s headlines. After much thought and reflection, I am ready to share this story. Controversial and uncomfortable, it is still deeply rooted in unwavering love. A horrific mistake was made leaving a family to heal, rebuild their lives and hopefully, forgive.

*This review has been edited to reflect that the period of time his parents wrote letters back and forth was 8 months and not 8 years, as previously posted. I regret this error.

BookSpin Review:

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
by Michael Finkel
Knopf
Hardcover

From BookDude:

Many of us have a fantasy of disappearing.  We try to imagine what it would be like to go away where no one can find us.

Christopher Knight did it.  One day in 1986 he walked into the woods and didn't emerge for nearly 30 years.

I knew I wanted to read this book and tore into it as soon as it arrived.  It didn't hurt that  I have read Michael Finkel before and enjoyed his work.

I have a lot of love for books about loners and people who blaze their own trails...sometimes literally.  I knew this story had a lot of potential and wasn't disappointed.  Christopher Knight's story will stick with you.

I don't like to bog my reviews down with too many facts; I prefer try to avoid spoilers and let other readers discover the details without my influence.

Suffice to say that Knight's story is compelling and maddening as we get to know all the hows: how did he do it, how did he succeed so long, how was he not found ( and how he was).

- - - - - - - -

From the publisher's website:


In 1986, a shy and intelligent twenty-year-old named Christopher Knight left his home in Massachusetts, drove to Maine, and disappeared into the forest. He would not have a conversation with another human being until nearly three decades later, when he was arrested for stealing food. Living in a tent even through brutal winters, he had survived by his wits and courage, developing ingenious ways to store edibles and water, and to avoid freezing to death. He broke into nearby cottages for food, clothing, reading material, and other provisions, taking only what he needed but terrifying a community never able to solve the mysterious burglaries. Based on extensive interviews with Knight himself, this is a vividly detailed account of his secluded life—why did he leave? what did he learn?—as well as the challenges he has faced since returning to the world. It is a gripping story of survival that asks fundamental questions about solitude, community, and what makes a good life, and a deeply moving portrait of a man who was determined to live his own way, and succeeded.

On My Radar:

Duck Season: Eating, Drinking, and Other Misadventures in Gascony - France's Last Best Place
by David McAninch
Harper
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

A delicious memoir about the eight months food writer David McAninch spent in Gascony—a deeply rural region of France virtually untouched by mass tourism—meeting extraordinary characters and eating the best meals of his life.

Though he’d been a card-carrying Francophile all of his life, David McAninch knew little about Gascony, an ancient region in Southwest France mostly overlooked by Americans. Then an assignment sent him to research a story on duck. After enjoying a string of rich meals—Armagnac-flambéed duck tenderloins; skewered duck hearts with chanterelles; a duck-confit shepherd’s pie strewn with shavings of foie gras—he soon realized what he’d been missing.

McAninch decided he needed a more permanent fix. He’d fallen in love—not only with the food but with the people, and with the sheer unspoiled beauty of the place. So, along with his wife and young daughter, he moved to an old millhouse in the small village of Plaisance du Gers, where they would spend the next eight months living as Gascons. Duck Season is the delightful, mouthwatering chronicle of McAninch’s time in this tradition-bound corner of France. There he herds sheep in the Pyrenees, harvests grapes, attends a pig slaughter, hunts for pigeons, distills Armagnac, and, of course, makes and eats all manner of delicious duck specialties—learning to rewire his own thinking about cooking, eating, drinking, and the art of living a full and happy life.

With wit and warmth, McAninch brings us deep into this enchanting world, where eating what makes you happy isn’t a sin but a commandment and where, to the eternal surprise of outsiders, locals’ life expectancy is higher than in any other region of France. Featuring a dozen choice recipes and beautiful line drawings, Duck Season is an irresistible treat for Francophiles and gourmands alike.

Guest Post:

A guest post by R.B.N. Bookmark, author of A Minger's Tale: Beginnings

Why?? 

There are many reasons, all of them far too numerous too recount as why one would write a book. 

It is an insane idea that rattles around in ones head like marbles trapped in a tin can. The more one ponders on this ludicrous idea the louder the rattle in your head. 

I have likened the birth of A Minger`s Tale to an unwanted pregnancy. It was never planned nor wanted. As for the reasons how it came about, well I´d give anything to turn the clock back and

change the events that led up to it. 

The reasons for my first (and what some hope will be my last forray into selfpublishing) are clearly stated in the opening chapter of my book – well at least that was my intention…..and yet. 

Things are never as clear cut in life as one would wish, and needless to say neither is writing a book. You see as the book progressed so did the initial reasons I had for writing it, it became something far more than just a family tale in a corner of England far remote from the bright lights of London. 

A campus newspaper by the name of Humanity Hallows wrote and published a review of Minger`s Tale. It is no understatement I was shocked almost into tears when I read it. Tears of joy, that is because at last someone had read between the lines, and understood where the book was coming from. It had created an affinity between writer and the reader, which is something any writer good or bad must strive to achieve. 

“The narrator and his family are elevated to represent an entire generation of people, whose individual plights and stories rarely receive the attention they ought to. “ excerpt from
Humanity Hallows book review of A Minger`s Tale – Beginnings

R.B.N. Bookmark

I tried to make the main character Ribban as ordinary as possible, show the vulnerability and the feeling of being an outsider in society. The story is almost sixty years old and yet, the process of growing up never changes, he is a child of his times as we are today. 

Now I know some people have commented on why I wrote a collection of stories without any storyline, and it is a valid comment which I shall endeavour to answer. 

Ribban Bookmark is a drifter, he meanders through the perforations of life`s tapestry like wind through airtex underwear. He lands where he falls, picks himself up and does the same thing all over again. His story is devoid of a common denominator; his storyline is day to day and a life he lives by the hour. 

Ribban and I are very much alike. We share the same hopes and fears, both of us at times have felt the frustration akin to a dog desperately searching for a lamp post in a blackout. Consequently both of us know what it feels like to end up with wet feet. 


So now 12 months after the books release how do I feel and what is my next move? I have to admit
being called a writer metaphorically speaking fits me like a pair of trousers twice my size. I find myself forever pulling them up but from time to time a bad review will leave them hanging around my ankles. 

Book number two, Half Way to Manchuria was scheduled for 2017 but I´m afraid the book is on hold at the moment – whether or not it ever sees the light of day is at this point in time very uncertain. 

So tell me after reading my story – would you write a book? 

I often ask myself the same question and no matter what I may think, no matter the world of selfpublishing has to throw in my direction, my answer is invariably the same. 

“YES”

A Minger's Tale: Beginnings
by R.B.N. Bookmark
CreateSpace
Trade Paperback & Kindle


**

Book Dude would like to thank Virtual Author Book Tours and Teddy Rose ( @teddyrose1 ) for the opportunity to participate in the book tour for A Minger's Tale: Beginnings by R.B.N. Bookmark.