March Pick A Book Giveaway

For the March Pick A Book, there are two choices, both paperbacks.

Moonface by Angela Balcita is a memoir about a woman with kidney disease. See review here: http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2011/02/moonface-by-angela-balcita.html

The Gentleman Poet by Kathryn Johnson is a historical fiction novel of Shakespeare's Tempest. See review here: http://wwwbookbabe.blogspot.com/2011/02/gentleman-poet-by-kathryn-johnson.html

Leave a comment, stating which book you desire, and a way I can contact you. I only give away ONE. On the last day of the month, Jazzy the Japanese Chin will choose a winner from her dog bowl. This will occur at mine and her convenience, no set time.

Good luck, all!

Moonface by Angela Balcita

This is a memoir written by a woman who has a kidney disease. I won't get into all the medical jargon that none of us can spell or pronounce, but just try to sum it up real quick.

Angela's kidney began failing her when she was in College. It would no longer clean her blood. Her brother stepped in and gave her his kidney. Ten  years later, she rejects the kidney and has to go on dialysis. By this point, she is with Charlie.

Charlie is a really likable guy. He remains positive when Angela gets down. "This is a new moment for you. This is the new you. Pretend for a second that everything you're scared of is getting washed out by this machine. That somehow, you'll come out of this whole thing feeling refreshed and brand new. Healthy. Maybe even better than before."

And Charlie gives her his kidney. This can make or break a relationship. What if her body rejects his kidney? What does that mean for them? Does that signify that their love will not last either?

Here is where I started to frown. I would think at this point, that Angela would count her blessings and finally be happy, but after a few years, she decides she wants a baby too and organ transplantees with previously failed kidneys don't have a good track record with the baby thing.

Full disclosure: I have never been equipped with the maternal gene. I have never had any desire whatsoever to have a baby. In 1979 when the baby gods were passing out genes to unborn fetuses, they forgot to hand me that one. So the last quarter of the book... I didn't like it. It goes on and on about wanting a baby, chili cravings, desire to see the baby. Angela did not want to adopt, despite the risks she was taking to herself and the unborn child and despite the fact that there are million of homeless babies and children out there.. so this is a personal issue for me. I was put off.

**Spoiler**

Of course, she loses her husband's kidney after that, no big surprise. The big surprise is that a third donor steps up to hand over her kidney, but I found myself wondering.. what is going to happen to that kidney when another baby craving pops up?

**End of Spoiler**

I think it's a touching story that most people, women anyway, will really like though I didn't feel the writing flowed together all that well. 

I bought this on Amazon. 

Our Lives Are the Rivers by Jaime Manrique

Wow. A very good book. This is a historical novel about Simon Bolivar, the "Liberator" and the woman he loved, Manuela Saenz, "liberatadora del libertador," the liberator of the liberator. Bolivar was known as a dictator. His goal was to liberate South America from Spanish rule and unite the countries into one country: Gran Colombia.

The book begins with a young Manuela. She is a bastard and her deceased mother's family treats her as one. She is sent to a convent for schooling where her and her friend Rosita notice strange goings on and visitations at night. "Manuela, I'm not sure what they're doing in there, but I don't believe they're saying the rosary."

Funny. :)

The novel continues and chronicles Manuela's reunitement and then estrangement with her father and his family, her doomed elopement with a Spanish soldier, her arranged marriage to an Englishman, her assistance in liberating Equador from Spanish rule, and finally, she meets Bolivar when she hits him on the head with a laurel wreath.

They have a passionate love affair that lasts for years. "From that day on, I counted the hours of the day till evening, anticipating that moment when i would lie again in bed with him. Our hunger for each other was insatiable."

This is scandalous because she is still married to the Englishman. However, her own matrimonial ties do not stop her from threatening Bolivar should he dare to have an indiscretion.

-Feeling his swelling press against me, I said, "Simon Bolivar, you listen to me, senor, Liberator or not, if I find out you're making love to other women, I will get to Guayaquil before you know it and"-I squeezed his member-"I will cut this off, pickle it, and send it as a present to King Ferdinand."

Don't let her picture fool you. This is not a docile woman. She even holds a pistol on a visitor in her parlor and gives him five seconds to get out of her sight.

The story is told from her viewpoint and the viewpoints of her slaves. I think the entire story could have been told from Manuela's POV alone, but the effect in the end tied up rather well.

The only thing preventing me from giving this a 5 is at times Manuela irritates me. She begs and whines to Bolivar constantly, "Take me with you.. you better not cheat on me..blah blah." And when he does cheat on her, she slaps him, slaps the wench, and takes him right back. She appears very weak at times. Also, she professes to be against slavery, but at all times, she has Jonata and Natal serving her food, following her around the country, taking care of her. When Natal requests freedom in order to get married, she is denied and forced to go fight alongside Manuela complete in a Colonel's attire. And.. well, honestly, after you publicily cuckold your husband and run to the General's bed, do you really thinking you're entitled to any of his estate? I beg to differ, chica.

The story ends sadly with an on old Manuela exiled to Jamaica after having survived assassination attempts alongside her lover, Colombia's political upheaval, and the loss of her native home. The conclusion consists of the plague and a piece of paper floating on the wind that says, Come to me. Come soon. Come sooner. Truly, an amazing ending.

Manuela was a brave woman worth reading about. If this novel is to be believed, she saved Bolivar's life two times.

Four stars and I got this from the Library.

Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Emily. She was naive. She met Sandy and fell in love and married him and never realized.. or I should say she refused to see what was in front of her.. that Sandy was a bad husband and a horrible person.

Sandy didn't even realize this about himself... until he was dead. Upon his death, Sandy strikes a deal with the "grim reaper" of sorts. The deal is: he gets a second chance, but under the Grim Reaper's terms. The grim reaper's terms: Sandy must fix things from the body of a dog. As the Grim Reaper so bluntly states: Sandy was a dog as a man. Things are just being reversed.

What follows is a tale full of heartache, anger, and realization. Heartache because Emily must find herself again. She's struggling in her job, falling into a slump of depression. What she had with Sandy... wasn't. Anger because as the book unfolds, it becomes appalling to the reader how Sandy treated Emily. And even as Einstein, he's a jerk sometimes, thinking thoughts of hate and jealousy. Sandy had numerous affairs, made Emily pay for stuff just to be spiteful (She isn't the wealthy one), and even in his death is denying her their very own home. Realization because I felt this book really makes one look deep into their own selves. I found myself pondering why we, humans, treat people the way we do sometimes.

The narrative goes back and forth between Emily and Einstein (Sandy) and I thought the dog's parts were superbly done.

-Instantly, I was set upon. Noses up my hindquarters, muzzles in my face. Good God Almighty. "Back off," I barked.

-I put up with the attention as best I could until an overly amorous poodle tried to have her way with me. I had dated models more discreet that that blasted poodle. So really what was I supposed to do? I turned on the went and snapped at her.

I have one quibble with this book: Too often, Emily is a pushover, especially with her sister, Jordan. I couldn't stand Jordan. If I had a sister like that, I would check myself into the nearest orphanage.

However, with Einstein's help, Emily just may get her life together... Can she run a marathon? Save her job? Find love? Keep her apartment? Forgive Sandy? All with the help of a dog....

Five stars. I won this on Library Thing.

The Raven's Bride by Lenore Hart

First of all, this is one of the best covers I have seen this year. Absolutely gorgeous.

This is a historical novel about Edgar Allan Poe and his wife, Virginia aka Sissy. It is told from Sissy's POV and begins in Baltimore with her as a child playing with dolls and ends with her "haunting" Edgar in a way.

Sissy and Edgar are cousins. She loves him from the moment she sees him and they agree to marry and he promises to always care for her and her mother. They marry when she is a mere 13 years of age, almost 14 and he is 26. (They don't do it for a while though.. she's 16 before they get it on...)

Basically, they move from place to place while Edgar writes, succumbs to the drink here and there, quits his editing jobs, and uproots them all over again. Sissy's mother pretty much becomes their maid, follows them everywhere, cooks, cleans, does laundry, takes care of them when they are sick. I liked the mother despite the fact she pretty much runs the show. She says something thought evoking at one point, "People have often needed me, but-no one ever wanted me before to, to ... just be with them."

Sissy just sings, plays music, gardens, walks to the market, and eventually ends up coughing a lot. She gets consumption. This is what I didn't like... Sissy feels.. worthless.. always has mommy to do everything for her.

The novel is well written and a superb look at the life of Edgar Allan Poe and what was behind his dark musings, poetry, and writing, but by the time I reached the 70 % mark, it grew repetitive and I grew bored.

Favorite quote, again from the mother: "you can't complain of things to a man, for you see, it only irritates and makes them angry. At least when it's not something they can quickly remedy."

Three stars. I bought this on Amazon Kindle.

Deliverance from Evil by Frances Hill

The evil in this book does not stem from Satan... Rather it comes from deep inside the human psyche from jealousy, bitterness, and resentment.

A passage in here sums it up really well. (I have an ARC so things may be different in the actual publication.)

"For his unknowable ends God had made men and women capable of causing terrible harm to one another, of not only, in the words of the psalm, breathing out cruelty, but of acting out cruelty. Those who thought themselves righteous, it seemed, often inflicted most suffering."

This is a novel of the Salem witch trials. In this retelling of the tale, it all begins with one mistreated girl who has some kind of seizure.... and leads to another girl having a convulsion. Heaven forbid that other chick get all the attention, right? And before you know it, an entire gaggle of girls are having convulsions and pointing their fingers at various citizens of Salem. Nevermind that all these citizens have at some time or another crossed one of the accusers father. If four girls claim you are a witch and that they can see your specter and that just the sight of you can give them convulsions... well, you must be a witch. And if you are deaf and cannot hear the accusations properly? Well, you must be a witch, especially if you leave carpets outside all day and they get rained on... (Seriously, you have to read it to understand that.)

The back of my ARC says, "old scores would be settled." What a way of going about it.

In the thick of it all, unknowingly at first, is George Burrough (accused) and his wife, Mary. While these rigged trials continue (the touch test.. my gawd!!), George sits shackled in jail while Mary tries to prove his innocence. But how to prove his innocence in a town of mass hysteria? The town goes mad and soon too many are faced with a difficult choice: be the accused and possibly hung or be an accuser.

Which choice would you make?

As with most Salem witch books, Deliverance is spooky and dark and makes the reader ponder just how much humans can hate and how far their vindictiveness will go.

The trials got a bit repetitive with the girls writhing, throwing themselves on the floor, screaming, and awaiting Putnam's further command. I think those particular scenes should have been changed up a bit.

Four stars. I received this ARC from the publisher.

Timeless by Alexandra Monir

I loved this book. I have only good to things to say about it. When I picked it up, I was a tad worried. Most contemporary YA novels contain insolent, spoiled, bratty heroines. Not so, Timeless.

The heroine is Michele. She wants to be a song writer, loves her mother, never knew her dad, and she is not a brat, but a likeable and realistic chick.

When tragedy occurs she finds herself living with her very wealthy grandparents whom she has never met before in the Windsor Mansion, a relic of New York's gilded age. In the Author's Notes, it is revealed that the book's mansion is based on the following (as far as exterior), Marble House in Newport.

In this old mansion, Michele comes across a key and the key combined with the mysteries and history of the mansion, send her back in time to 1910 where she changes the course of history by falling in love with one of her ancestor's fiances... But how can this love last? She is really stuck in 2010 and he is stuck in 1910. She can travel back briefly, but cannot stay.. and there is bound to come a time when she can't go back at all.

Ever heard the saying, "If you really love someone, let them go?" Michele may have to...

I was sucked into this story, couldn't put it down. I loved the time travel and the scenes Michele witnessed. She not only goes back to 1910, but also the flapper era with singing and speakeasys, and to WWII where she witnesses America's patriotism and women banding together. I loved Lily. She deserves her very own novel. I fell in love with Philip myself, never wanted their romance to end.

Some questions regarding Michele's lost father are answered as well... And there was a scene between Michele and her mother that made me bawl..

Mom: "But I'm always here with you, just as Philip is. And I've already fulfilled my purpose on this earth."

Michele: "What was it?"

Mom: "Bringing you into the world of course."

Great stuff and had both a sad and happy ending. I'm eager to see where the author is going to go with this. My only complaint: I gotta wait till 2012 to find out. That's too long!

5 stars and I bought this on Amazon.