The BookFetish Blog

Book 4 in the Modern Witch series, A Nomadic Witch, is here! And in true Debora Geary fashion, it doesn’t disappoint. With A Nomadic Witch we find our resident curmudgeon, Marcus Buchanan, the subject of a cryptic prediction delivered by a flashy, flamboyant, witch named Adele. The message Adele brings to Marcus is one of life and death and it turns Marcus’ life – and the rest of the Witch Central community- into chaos.

A number of our favorite Berkeley residents make an appearance in the story, but the Nova Scotia residents play a larger role in this book. We also get to see a lot of Nell’s husband, Daniel, which I thought was a nice addition.  I like seeing him interact with the other Witch Central men.

Old magic and Irish legend play a part, as well, which I always enjoy because of my own Irish roots. I think most of us would welcome an Irish Gran like Moira.  In  A Nomadic Witch, we see an unfamiliar vulnerability to Moira, which serves to deepen her characterization.

I don’t want to spoil this book so I’m not going to go into a lot of detail when I say this, but A Nomadic Witch is a bit of an emotional roller coaster. The reader gets a real sense of the emotions of all the main players but most especially Marcus and Moira, and at times your heart just breaks for them.

The trademark love, community, laughter, and friendship that I adore in this series (and you know that if you’ve read any of my other reviews of Geary’s books) is ever present in this book, as well. In fact, I hope Debora won’t mind if I nickname my own house “Witch Central” as a constant reminder to embrace love and friendship and community and celebrate the magic all around us.

If you’ve not tried the Modern Witch series yet, you’re really missing out- they’ll make perfect summer reads, so what are you waiting for? Check them out.

If you’re already a fan of  The Bloggess then I think it goes without saying you’ll love Jenny Lawson’s (mostly true) memoir. If you’re not a fan of The Bloggess, (I assume because you’ve not yet stumbled across her site), go read this post, then come back here for the review. If you’re not laughing after that post- and feeling some empathy for Victor, then, well I feel sorry for you and you probably should skip the rest of this review.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened is written in true Lawson style. At times poignant, it is also laugh-out-loud funny and it makes you want to be her friend… sort of. It also made me a little scared to be her friend but in a good way.  And because it’s all essays, it’s easy to sneak in a quick read when you’re waiting in line, or just have a few minutes to read a few pages.

Things you’ll learn in Let’s Pretend This Never Happened:

1) Taxidermy has played a startlingly large role in Lawson’s life

2) This woman can truly find the funny in (almost) anything

3) Lawson’s mind works in totally weird and random ways- which is a good thing or we wouldn’t have this book.

4) Jenny and Victor are a great match

5) Mental illness isn’t funny, but it also doesn’t have to stop you from finding the funny

6) A large metal chicken named Beyonce in your front yard seems totally normal after you read this book.

Lawson read an essay from her book on her book tour, which I was able to see when she made a stop here.  I think the whole audience left with a sore face from laughing so hard at the reading.  And I learned at the book signing that Lawson comes across on the page just as she is in real life.

So, if you haven’t read Let’s Pretend This Never Happened yet, put it on your reading list, now.

Linda Lael Miller has two new releases coming out this summer. The first is  Big Sky Country.  I’m giving you a teaser excerpt today. Check it out below, then keep reading for a link to follow along for this blog tour for reviews, guest posts, and other excerpts. And stop back by in August for a snippet from Linda’s other summer release, Big Sky Mountain.  Happy reading!

 
“I guess that’s understandable,” she said, keeping her back to him as she filled a good-sized foam cup and popped a lid onto the top. “Wanting folks to know the truth, I mean.”

Slade was on his feet, retrieving his hat from the counter, turning the brim slowly in his hands. “I don’t reckon it will surprise anybody,” he reminded her, recalling the gossip that had started so many schoolyard brawls while he was growing up.

Callie had been barely twenty years old when she’d taken up with Carmody; naïve and alone in the world, and fresh out of some fly-by-night beauty school in Missoula with nothing but her license to cut hair, the old trailer she’s grown up in and the two hardscrabble acres sloping down to Buffalo Creek behind it. Her beloved “granddad” had been dead two years by then.

“I’m sorry, Slade,” she said now. “For all you had to go through on my account, I mean.

Check out  the blog tour, and see below for more information about Big Sky Country:

Two hostile half brothers—one legitimate and one not—are each left half of their deceased father’s prosperous ranch, but even this sprawling estate isn’t big enough for these two feuding cowboys.  They’re headed for one big final showdown—winner takes all.  BIG SKY COUNTRY (Harlequin HQN, June 2012, $7.99 U.S./$9.99 CAN.), is the first book in the new series from #1 New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller, set in Parable, Montana—where rugged cowboys and feisty cowgirls abound.

Today, I’m honored to share with you a guest post by Jillian Medoff, author of I Couldn’t Love You More.

Before I share with you Jillian’s post, let me give you a little information about the book. From the synopsis on Jillian’s site, I Couldn’t Love You More:

Eliot Gordon would do anything for her family. A 38-year-old working mother, she lives an ordinary but fulfilling life in suburban Atlanta with her partner, Grant Delaney, and their three daughters. The two older girls are actually Eliot’s stepdaughters, a distinction she is reluctant to make as she valiantly attempts to maintain a safe, happy household…

Then Finn Montgomery, Eliot’s long-lost first love, appears, triggering a shocking chain of events that culminates in a split-second decision that will haunt her beloved family forever. How Eliot survives — and what she loses in the process — is a story that will resonate with anyone who has ever loved a child. With hilarious honesty, wrenching depth, and a knockout twist, I COULDN’T LOVE YOU MORE illuminates the unbreakable bonds of family and reveals the lengths we’ll go to save each other, even as we can’t save ourselves.”

And now, here is Jillian’s post:

My Inspiration for I COULDN’T LOVE YOU MORE

I got my MFA at NYU. While I was there, I took a master class with the very brilliant writer, Grace Paley who said, “Write what you don’t know about what you know.” It didn’t occur to me until a few years ago that this is exactly what I do. I’ll take moments from my own life, from my family’s life, from strangers’ lives and I’ll look at what would normally happen—what I know—and then I’ll consider everything I don’t know, the big “what if’s.”

I wrote an essay about the evolution of I Couldn’t Love You More, and about my writing career called “This is a True Story.” It’s available in both the print and eBook versions of the novel. The gist of the essay is that I Couldn’t Love You More, like my other two novels, Hunger Point and Good Girls Gone Bad, evolved very much the way Grace Paley suggested. Here’s what I knew: I’m a mother and stepmother. I have three children. I love them each equally but all differently. I’ve always been a writer who tackles complex themes and risky subjects—I write about the things that people think but never say aloud. So I was looking for a challenge. If a book has a predictable storyline or familiar situations, there’s little satisfaction for me in writing it. A woman deciding which man she’ll spend her life with? I’ve read that story a million times, but a stepmother deciding which of her children she’ll save in a freak accident? Now that’s a challenge. I had no idea how I would react if forced to choose between my daughters, and figuring that out became my obsession for the next decade. In fact, even though the novel is finished and published, I still grapple with the question. I mean, how can any of us know what we would do in that situation?

Thanks so much to Jillian for sharing her inspiration today. Want to know more about Jillian and her books?  You can learn more about Jillian through her website.  If you’re on Twitter, follow Jillian here. And you can find Jillian on Facebook. So, once you’ve read I Couldn’t Love You More, let me know what you think. And look for my review soon.

I’m really, really glad Cassandra Clare made the Mortal Instruments series longer than a trilogy. Somehow, the release of City of Lost Souls slipped by me and I completely missed it until I was at Barnes and Noble for a reading of Jenny Lawson’s Let’s Pretend This Didn’t Happen (the next review coming up on the blog, by the way). I’d just bought Jenny’s book and was making my way towards the back of the store when I saw the display for City of Lost Souls so then I had to get back in line to promptly buy it.

The fifth book in the series, this one picks up almost right where City of Fallen Angels ends. Jace is missing, disappearing with Sebastian, a spawn of greater demon Lilith. The Clave have all but given up on finding Jace, so it’s up to Clary and her friends to find him and stop Sebastian and his evil plans.Of course, nothing is ever that easy, and finding and saving Jace will require deals with Seelie Queens, complex magic, and sacrifice of all kinds.

But enough of the synopsis, because I don’t want to give away anything. Cassandra Clare is giving us another exciting installment in the Shadowhunter saga. I still maintain the Clary and Izzy are two of the best heroines in Young Adult books today- they take an active role in the action, the stand up for themselves, they go after what they want. Sometimes, they need to be rescued, but they don’t wait to be. They love fiercely and loyally. For those reasons alone, I love these books.

But Clare also gives great glimpses into the relationships of the characters. Jace and Clary’s journey to South Carolina (Clare fans will know what that means) seems inevitable now- but whether or not they make it you have to read for yourself. We get some more of Simon and the affect of his vampirism on his family- and a fantastic example of unconditional support and love there. Magnus and Alec- well, they have one of the more adult (as Magnus is hundreds of years old) and complex relationships in the series, and Clare has them facing some tough challenges in this novel.

When I read the Mortal Instruments books, I know I’m going to get some great action and a good story- but frankly, it’s getting to know the characters and watching them develop that keeps me coming back for more. When do we get book 6?