Wealth, Love, Ambition and Secrets…”Tiny Little Thing”, by Beatriz Williams

Tiny Little ThingAuthor Beatriz Williams has written an intriguing novel that has fictional characters intertwined with historical happenings. It is a story set in the Vietnam War era, and follows in a Kennedy-style, the most gregariously social of the three Schuyler sisters, Christina “Tiny” Hardcastle of Cape Cod. She seemed predestined to meet and marry a man who would attain a leadership position with her help. She possessed elegance and grace with impeccable style. In the new age of television politics, “Tiny” was always looking camera ready. With their handsome attributes, they are poised to become the ultimate power couple…… seemingly unstoppable.

As many times happens, unwelcome characters appear unexpectedly in Cape Cod, who each in their own way can potentially bring down Frank and “Tiny” Hardcastle’s perfect world. Among those characters are Tiny’s volatile sister Pepper, someone bearing incriminating photographs, and Frank’s intimidating, Vietnam War hero cousin, Caspian. Tiny quickly realizes her perfect life may be full of cracks and the only way out is to fight for herself instead of continuing the glossy facade she has created.

As quoted from William’s publisher, the novel is……….a fascinating look at wealth, love, ambition, secrets, and what family members will and won’t do to protect each other……Kirkus.

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For Good, For Bad, Forever…”Finders Keepers”, by Stephen King

Finders KeepersOnce again, the genius author Stephen King, masters another thriller novel with a brilliant title…… Finders Keepers. The book is the second volume of a planned trilogy with main character, Detective Bill Hodges. Mr. Mercedes was volume one in the trilogy, and introduced Detective Hodges. The main theme of Finders Keepers is somewhat of a recurring theme (as was his novel, Misery) of a reader whose obsession with a favorite writer has become very dangerous. The new novel, published on June 2, 2015, promises to fulfill the high expectations that Stephen King’s readers have come to expect.
A thirty year old murder of a writer sets the stage for the premise of the novel. Detective Hodges gets drawn into the complicated story, but does not realize how it will lead to more mystery involving the decades old murder. It is a deadly cat and mouse game that he walks into, but he is the detective who brought down the murderer, Mr. Mercedes.
“Finders Keepers is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also Stephen writing about how literature shapes a life……… for good, for bad, forever”.

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There Must be a Pony Here Somewhere, “A Lucky Life Interrupted”, by Tom Brokaw

A Lucky Life InterruptedTom Brokaw, the former news anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News has written a new book, A Lucky Life Interrupted: A Memoir of Hope, in which he reflects back on his life and considers what he would still like to achieve. He was 75 years old and had extreme back pain due to his multiple myeloma. Every day that he went outside his Manhattan apartment, he was smacked in the face by a huge billboard of a young, healthy Tom Brady starring back at him. He admitted to Tom Brady the first time they met, that he therapeutically cursed that billboard every time he saw it. He told Brady that his cursing him got him through cancer treatment. The story gave the New England Patriots quarterback a good laugh.
Brokaw was very touched by all those who reached out to him with support during his battle with cancer. Among them were the current President, President George W. Bush, Charles Barkley, and many more, including David Letterman, who was very kind in checking on him and inviting him to dinner. It was immensely helpful to him to have such considerate people caring about him.
In the book, he considers his bucket list: ● Learn to sail solo ● Learn to play chess ● Get a short story published ● Spend more mornings by the sea, with his wife, Meredith, a copy of The New Yorker, and plenty of black coffee ●Fish more river and saltwater flats
Brokaw insists he is an eternal optimist, even through the difficult journey of having multiple myeloma. A great story he used as illustrating that optimism was when Ronald Reagan used the great line “about a child comes down in the morning, and beneath the Christmas tree there is just an enormous pile of horse dung. And he starts thinking, ‘there must be a pony here somewhere’. That is kind of my attitude about life.”

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Audiobook vs Audio Book

Question MarksWhen you type the word audiobook, do you use “audiobook” or “audio book“? You can tell by my first sentence I use audiobook. It is clear the industry standard is “audiobook”, not “audio book”. The Audio Publishers Association (APA) and AudioFile Magazine both use the word audiobook. Even all the audiobook publishers spell it as one word on their website. So why do I still see it spelled “audio book”?

There are some spell checkers that underline “audiobooks” in red and suggest spelling it “audio books”, even when I type the word audiobooks on my Android phone it automatically breaks it into two separate words. You can even look up the word audiobook in an online dictionary and it will break it up into two separate words and say “Also, audiobook”. I even see it in auto suggest drop downs when typing it into a search like in Apple’s App Store on my iPad mini. I start typing the word audiobooks and it automatically shows me the words “audio books” in the drop down.

June is National Audiobook Month and everywhere I see it advertised it is spelled as one word “Audiobook”. This is what actually prompted me to write this post, given that today is June 3rd and I have been seeing lots of ads about National Audiobook Month. I have never seen it spelled as two words in any of the ads I have seen for National Audiobook Month.

Why does this even matter you ask. Who cares how you spell it, right, wrong. In today’s search boxes are everywhere society, you get different results when you enter it “audiobooks” vs “audio books” in a search box. This is the main reason there should be a standard way of spelling the word audiobooks and it should clearly be “audiobooks”, not “audio books” in my opinion. What do you think?

Deceit, Debt and Lies…”The Liar”, by Nora Roberts

The Liar“The Liar”, is another extraordinary novel by Nora Roberts. Roberts has a special way of writing about subject that may actually happen in real life, but includes many twists and turns making it unusual. Her main character, Shelby Foxworth, is found suffering over the loss of her husband. Little did she know there would be much more to be lost.

Shelby’s husband was lost in a boating accident which opened her eyes to the many I.D.’s he had in his past, and the deceit and debt he left behind. Appalled and embarrassed, she took her three year old daughter and traveled back to her roots in the Smokey Mountains. She is prepared to concentrate on building a new life for herself and her daughter, but does not expect evil to follow her home. She must use all of her strength and ability to get through the challenges that followed her to the mountains. In an intense, complex mystery, happiness can be found when there is a special man who enters her life and has the patience to wait for her to overcome all the lies perpetrated by “The Liar”.

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Broken Flocks Are Roaming In…”Maximum Ride Forever”, by James Patterson

Maximum Ride ForeverMaximum Ride Forever is the ninth and ultimate novel in the Maximum Ride series by author, James Patterson. Those who are Patterson “Max” fans will not experience any disappointment with this encore “Max” episode……..all remaining questions will be answered.
It is a post-apocalyptic world where Maximum Ride and her broken Flock are roaming. The world has evolved by this time that only mutants can survive. The Flock with their avian characteristics and their gills are able to cope with everything that has taken place, but they are constantly pursued by those who belong to The School, who have no good intentions of handling The Flock, if they are re-captured. Readers have given mixed reviews of this installment, perhaps final installment, of the “Max series. It is said to contain conflicting answers to questions that remained after the previous novel. It appears to be at the discretion of the readers as to how their queries into the happenings of “Max” and the Flock are finally answered. To be sure, the twists and turns will keep the reader on their toes.

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The True Meaning of What It Is To Be A…”Legend”, by Eric Blehm

LegendEric Blehm, a best-selling author, uses the Vietnam War as a backdrop for his novel, Legend. It is seen through a mission that occurred on May 2, 1968. U.S. forces were forbidden to operate in the neutral Cambodian jungle, but a 12-man Special Forces team was covertly placed there to prove that the North Vietnamese Army was using the neutral zone as a means to traffic supplies to the south through the Ho Chi Minh Trail. The mission turned very sour when they discovered that they had infiltrated a section of jungle that concealed a major enemy installation. They were immediately surrounded by North Vietnamese Army, under attack, and low on ammunition.

The remainder of the story is carried out by the 20th Assault Helicopter Company, and principally Master Sergeant Ray Benavidez. His heroic actions were so impressive that he received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Ronald Reagan in 1981. Awarded the medal for his service with Detachment B-56, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), 1st Special Forces, Republic of Vietnam. Even though severely injured himself, he saved numerous lives during that 1968 Vietnam Mission. The story exemplifies the complete title: Legend: A Harrowing Story from the Vietnam War of One Green Beret’s Heroic Mission to Rescue a Special Forces Team Caught Behind Enemy Lines.

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Support Iconic Legends or Debunk the Myths…”Bill O’Reilly’s Legends and Lies”, by Bill O’Reilly and David Fisher

Bill O'Reilly's Legends and Lies: The Real WestLegends and Lies: The Real West is a book by authors Bill O’Reilly and David Fisher, that serves to provide evidence that either supports iconic legends of the Old West, or debunks myths that have taken hold for readers over the years. If the reader has ever wondered about Black Bart, the “gentleman bandit” or Billy the Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, then this book is for them. Generations of Americans have grown up hearing about these Western legends in books, movies, and television.

The book is so new that many opinions have yet to be expressed, but the concensus of the opinions given seem to agree that Legends and Lies: The Real West, is a straightforward historical account describing many of the biggest characters of the Old West. O’Reilly’s Killing series of books often raised more controversial questions, but his latest work is a much less complicated explanation of what really happened when the West was won.

Legends and Lies: The Real West debuted on April 7, 2015, and is considered an essential companion for those who plan to watch the historical series (by the same name) which premiered on April 12, 2015. The historical episodic specials will be televised for 10 weeks on the Fox News Channel. The series will include the stories that readers think they already know, as well as others that may be surprising and astonishing.

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“Becoming Steve Jobs”, by Brent Schlender & Rick Tetzeli

Becoming Steve JobsNewly published book, Becoming Steve Jobs (March 2015) by authors Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, is an unauthorized biography about legendary C.E.O. Steve Jobs, who died from complicated liver failure. The sub-title of the book: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart Into a Visionary Leader, gives the reader immediate insight as to the tone of the book. Jobs was known by his fellow executives as a skilled manipulator of many people, and favored those who stayed closest to his way of thinking.

The book strives to more sympathetically picture Jobs as a man misunderstood due to his early explosive years. However, critics seem to agree that this new book does not do much to help Job’s posthumous reputation. But, at least the last chapters show how he cared for his colleagues. In his final days, he especially became more melancholy. For example, just before Jobs was to be announced as a new Board Member of Pixar, he pulled aside Disney C.E.O. Bob Iger to let him know that his cancer had returned and gave him the chance to back out of the deal. Of course, he did not change the agreement and they became friends and had a productive alliance.

A film is due in October 2015 based on Walter Isaacson’s biography, Steve Jobs. The director is Danny Boyle with Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. Jobs will be played by Michael Fassbender.

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Overcoming Discovered Knowledge…”One Wish”, by Robyn Carr

One WishRobyn Carr, delivers another smart, funny and emotional novel about the small Oregon town of Thunder Point. Her main characters, Grace Dillon and Troy Headly, find each other and decide to get to know each other better. Complications from the past make themselves known. They try to overcome the discovered knowledge. Troy tries to help Grace find the life she has always wished for.

Grace was a champion figure skater, but chose to escape to Thunder Point to escape the hectic world of being in the limelight. She found Troy as a friend with benefits, but also as an advocate, who stepped up as a friend first, and then as a lover. Carr’s stories are like “comfort food for the soul”.

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