May Author in the Spotlight Wrap-Up + Giveaway

May Author in the Spotlight Wrap-Up + Giveaway

This Isn't Normal giveaway ends tonight at Midnight.  Hurry and enter.

May is coming to a close and school is ending across the nation.  Seniors head off to graduate and start their lives and summer vacation is beginning for a lot of people, me included.  Only 3 days left of school for me this year.  Yippee.
So as May ends we say goodbye to M.R. Tain, May's Minnesota Author in the Spotlight, and his YA novel This Isn't Normal.

Today is the last day to enter to win This Isn't Normal.  Time is up at midnight.  Click here to enter:  This Isn't Normal Giveaway.

Next check out my book review of This Isn't Normal.  This Isn't Normal is a unique book that would appeal to adults as well as teens, especially adults that lived through the 1960's.  It is well-written, entertaining and fun.  At it's heart This Isn't Normal is a Christian based book.

This Isn't Normal Book Review

Then check out my author interview of M.R. Tain.  Find out what books inspire him and how he became a writer.  Also he talks about his 2nd book, Peace, Man and his 3rd novel in the works.

Author Interview of M.R. Tain

Please read M.R. Tain's Guest post.  It is short and sweet and all about how he got the idea for This Isn't Normal.  Three things inspired This Isn't Normal, find out about it on the guest post.

M.R. Tain Guest Post


It has been a pleasure to work with M.R. Tain this month and I would like to thank him for being May's Minnesota Author in the Spotlight.  I met M.R. Tain at the Twin Cities Book Festival in October when I walked by his table and noticed his book.  Funny thing is, we learned his wife is a graduate of the school I teach at and then last month we discovered through Facebook that he has been friends with one of my cousins for over 20 years.  We are all connected somehow.

Please visit M.R. Tain's website and read his books @http://mrtain.tateauthor.com/ 

This Isn't Normal by M.R. Tain

This Isn't Normal by M.R. Tain

Karla travels back in time to 1965 on the evening after of her great-grandmother's death.  She falls asleep at her great-grandmother's house and wakes up a house guest of the grandmother she never knew, Cheryl.  Cheryl and Karla are both 16, juniors in the same high school, though 40 years separate them.  Karla and Cheryl become fast friends and realize how similar they are, they even look alike.

Karla spends a week in 1965 and it changes her life as she knows it.  She attends a dance, listens to music on a turn table, watches TV on a black and white television set, goes to a dance, a football game, and has a date.  Karla and Cheryl talk and talk and talk which gets Karla to thinking that there are a lot of things she likes about 1965.

Fast forward to 2005 and Karla is reevaluating her life.  She wants to be just like Cheryl and begins to make small changes in her daily life.  She becomes friends with her grandpa, Cheryl's widowed husband, starts listening to the oldies station, she starts going to church and making new friends.  Karla transforms herself in a strong young woman.

The best part of This Isn't Normal for me was Karla's transformation.  Tain does an excellent job of taking a typical teenage girl and transforming her into a thoughtful, Christian young woman.  Tain captures the year of 1965 and the whole experience of Karla's time travel is very believable.  Tain creates a snapshot of two different years 1965 and 2005, existing 40 years apart and juxtaposes the two different time frames extremely well.  It was quite fascinating.

This Isn't Normal is a unique book that would appeal to adults as well as teens, especially adults that lived through the 1960's.  It is well-written, entertaining and fun.  At it's heart This Isn't Normal is a Christian based book.  Relationships are important to teens and it is hard to know when to end a relationship or start one.  This Isn't Normal is a homage to teens and the problems they encounter today and how to overcome those issues with help.  I think Tain is ultimately saying that God gives us free

will to choose our own path so choose wisely and live happily.

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

1.  I'VE HAD THIS BOOK ON MY SHELF FOR A LONG TIME

The History of Love has actually been on my bookshelf for seven years and I never picked it up to read until now.  Sure I looked at it, flipped through the pages, considered reading it but something else was always more important to read at the time.  The History of Love could wait and did wait for seven years to be read.  It was worth the wait.  It was beautiful, wonderful and such a pleasurable reading experience.  I'm so glad Lisa picked it to read for our Book Club.  If she didn't, it might still be sitting on my shelf, waiting.  Waiting, no longer.

2.  THE WORLD IS FULL OF INVISIBLE PEOPLE

Leo Gursky is afraid of becoming invisible and so everyday he makes sure he does something so that he will be seen.  He drops something, he falls down, he buys something he doesn't need.  Leo goes out of his way to be seen.  He pushes the limits and goes so far as to become a nude model for an art class.  He is a writer.  He is a father.  He is a lover.  He is Jewish.  He is Polish.  He is the oldest man in the world.  He is forgotten.  He lives alone.  No one loves him.  He is invisible.  He is a survivor.

3.  THE FIRST SENTENCE OF A BOOK SHOULD BE AMAZING AND MAKE YOU WANT TO CONTINUE READING

And for that reason you must read the first sentence (or two, or three) of The History of Love.
"When they write my obituary.  Tomorrow.  Or the next day.  It will say, LEO GURSKY IS SURVIVED BY AN APARTMENT FULL OF SHIT."  pg.3.  Leo's voice jumps off the page and you are immediately drawn into a story that will make you fall in love with the characters and the absolute genius of a storyline.

4.  THE HISTORY OF LOVE IS THE TITLE OF THE BOOK

It is also the book Alma's mother is translating into English.  Alma Singer was named after Alma, who is the main character in The History of Love.  Alma's father fell in love with the book The History of Love and kept a special copy which he inscribed to her mother. Alma is sure The History of Love holds a secret to her past and her future.  Maybe the Alma in The History of Love is a real person.  Alma plans to find the real Alma.

5.  INSIDE EACH BOOK ARE HIDDEN GEMS THAT ARE MEANT FOR THE READER TO FIND

When you read a book it is an intimate experience between you and the author.  The author and the reader rarely meet in person but come together via a shared experience with a book full of wonderful words.  The History of Love contains hidden gems for the reader within its pages, like wonderful quotes, smiles, sadness, memories and connections.  Sometimes people have to show you the hidden gems for you to appreciate what you missed and it shows you that the book has deeper meaning then you previously thought.  Krauss's character, Alma Singer, is named after a Polish-Jewish author, Isaac Bashevis Singer.  Leo's best friend Bruno is named after Bruno Schulz, a Polish-Jewish author, artist and teacher who was killed by a German Nazi officer.

6.  THE HISTORY OF LOVE IS A GEM AND YOU NEED TO READ IT

M.R. Tain Author Interview + Giveaway

M.R. Tain Author Interview + Giveaway

M.R. Tain is the May, Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob and his YA book, This Isn't Normal, is really introspective.  I decided to ask M.R. Tain some questions about what inspires him and how he finds time to write as well as other important tidbits.  Read on to find out more about M.R. and his books.

Welcome M.R. Tain,


1.     Tell us a little bit about yourself?

I was born in 1958, and grew up in a small town in Iowa.  I attended grade school in the sixties, and junior high and high school in the seventies.  I had two older brothers who attended high school in the sixties.  I started writing puppet shows in the eighties, then some TV programs on public access TV (some of which involved puppets), and in 2005, I started writing for the Community Voices column in the Savage Pacer after noticing that I was writing an awful lot of letters to the editor.  I figured I should have one chance to sound off every twelve weeks and keep quiet the rest of the time.  It was also in 2005 that I decided to try writing a novel, which became “This isn’t Normal.”

2.    What is the inspiration behind your story “This Isn’t Normal”?

I experienced culture shock when our sons told us what it was like in high school.  I decided to write a story to build a bridge between generations.  I chose my older brothers’ high school years because the difference between 1965 and 2005 was more pronounced than if I’d written about my own experience in the seventies.

3.     Usually an author puts some of his own life experiences in the book.  Did you do that?  Do you have anything in common with your characters?

Absolutely!  Karla’s grandfather is based on how I would have reacted to the circumstances around Karla’s life had I been in his shoes.  Also, Dave Baker’s father, Joe Baker, is basically me.  A story I attribute to the character of Paul Baker, “My Adventures in Outer Space,” is taken directly from an unpublished work I wrote just for my own amusement.

4.    Why did you decide to become a writer?

Aside from the reasons I stated in question 2, my wife has always been a writer.  She made writing interesting to me.  I thought, “This is going to be a novel, a short story, or a total flop.  I may as well try and see what happens.”  We were both quite surprised when I published first.

5.    Do you like to read?  What are some of your favorite books and authors?

“Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams,
“This Present Darkness” and “Piercing the Darkness” by Frank Peretti,
C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy, “Out of the Silent Planet,” “Perelandra,” and “That Hideous Strength.”
“The Screwtape Letters” by C. S. Lewis.

6.    What are some of the issues that you feel are integral to your book?

Issues involving love and sex; the relationship between the two, and the differences between them.

7.    What is the most important lesson/idea you want readers to take away from This Isn’t Normal?

That teens and young adults should question the social norms that have been presented to them today.  I present a contrast over the period of forty years and invite young people to evaluate for themselves, what they believe to be a “normal” lifestyle.

8.    How do you carve time out of your busy day to write?

The best time to do it is when my day job gets slow.  Other than that, I discipline myself to at least turn

on my computer and look at it nearly every day.

9.    Tell us about your second book, Peace, Man?

“Peace, Man,” is a sequel of sorts to “This isn’t Normal.”  It takes place two years later on a college campus.  The protagonist is male, but Karla returns to play an important role in his story.

10.    Are you currently working on a third novel?  Can you tell us a little bit about it?

My third novel is currently called, “For the Children.”  No characters experience time-travel this time, but the reader is conveyed to the year 2023.  The story is about both protagonists from each of the first two books, and as the title suggests, involves the lives of their children.

11.    Tell us in one sentence why we should read This Isn’t Normal?

The culture clash of time travel gets pretty amusing, and I believe it can broaden one’s understanding of other generations and their cultures.


Thanks Martin!

If you would like to win a copy of M.R. Tain's book This Isn't Normal please click here:  This Isn't Normal Giveaway

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! by Laura Amy Schlitz

Good Masters!  Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz

Set in the year 1255, Good Master! Sweet Ladies!, takes a close look at the young people who lived and sustained a medieval village.  There are 19 monologues and two dialogues which represent various voices and social strata in the community.  The lord's nephew and daughter, the moneylender's son, the blacksmith's daughter, the plowboy, the runaway, the sniggler and more.  After a set of monologues that intersect, there is a section called A Little Background where Schlitz shares the facts and history behind an aspect of the medieval village.

Laura Amy Schlitz wrote the series of plays in Good Masters!  Sweet Ladies! for a class of students who were studying the Middle Ages.  The verse is well written and can be performed, read aloud or read silently based on your preference. There are footnotes throughout the text to explain terms and the way of life 800 years ago.

This is an enjoyable book that creates a historical connection between then and now.  We have changed a lot since the Middle Ages but then again, some things remain unchanged like classism.  I have to say I read the book silently and learned a lot.  I am a history teacher and had no idea what a sniggler was or a varlet.  The book was entertaining, informative and quite a lot of fun to read.

 I think it would be fun to read aloud with a class or even with my own children.   Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! won the Newberry award in 2008.  In my opinion this book is written more for educators and parents as it doesn't seem the type of book upper elementary kids are drawn to.  I bought this book when it won the medal five years ago and neither of my kids were interested in it and they still haven't read it.  That being said, I think Laura Amy Schlitz is an excellent writer and I expect she will create more great reading experiences for children and adults.  Now if I can only get my kids to

read it.

When Women Were Birds by Terry Tempest Williams

When Women Were Birds.  Fifty-Four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams

Terry's mother told her, a week before she died, that she was leaving her all her journals.  She had three shelves of journals in various prints and colors all stacked neatly in rows on the bookshelf.  Her mother made her promise that she wouldn't look at them until she was gone.  "In Mormon culture, women are expected to do two things:  keep a journal and bear children." pg. 18.  What Terry found after her mother died was a complete shock; every one of her mother's journals was blank.

The surprise and weight of the blank journals, requires many questions.  Questions that will be asked but not have any answers, only contemplation.

Within When Women Were Birds, Terry Tempest Williams explores what is means to be a woman, a mother, a grandmother, a writer. She explores faith, the environment, the beauty of birds, marriage.  Terry contemplate her voice, silence and the meaning of her mother's journals.

Terry Tempest Williams is a heartfelt storyteller.  Here she takes the story of her mother and her blank journals and turns it into a beautiful, unique, powerful memoir that is hard to put in a category.  When Women Were Birds is virtually a variegated prism of multiple hues, a treasure chest, a love story to women and voice.

This is the first book I have read written by Terry Tempest Williams and it won't be the last.  My copy of When Women Were Birds is marked with rainbow color tabs because the book spoke to me on a deep level.  It spoke to me as a woman, a mother and a writer.  It was, in short, amazing.  I could relate on so many different levels and thought constantly about the wonderful women and mother's in my life.

Let me share some of my favorite quotes:

"A pencil is a wand and a weapon.  Be Careful.  Protect yourself.  It can be glorious." pg 39

"To be read.  To be heard.  To be seen.  I want to be read, I want to be heard.  I don't need to be seen.  To write requires an ego, a belief that what you say matters."  pg. 47

"There are two important days in a woman's life: the day she is born and the day she finds out why." pg. 209

Muriel Rukeyser asked the question "What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?  The world would split open."
The world is splitting open." Pg 100

"Reading has not only changed my life but saved it.  The right books picked at the right times-especially the one that scares us, threatens to undermine all we have been told, the one that contains forbidden thoughts-these are the books that become Eve's apples."  Pg 97

When Women Were Birds is a gift you must give yourself and the women in your life.

M.R. Tain Guest Post + GIveaway

M.R. Tain Guest Post + GIveaway

M.R. Tain is the Minnesota Author in the Spotlight for the beautiful month of May here on Booksnob.  M.R. Tain has recently joined Goodreads, works a full time job, is in love with his wife and is busy writing books.  He is a personable, nice guy and his two books This isn't Normal and Peace, Man involve time travel.  M.R. Tain wrote a short guest post about what inspired him to write This Isn't Normal.  Read on.

Guest Post by M.R. Tain


I was inspired to write "This isn't Normal" by three things:  First, it was the stories our sons brought home from high school, and the contrast to my own high school experience.
 Second, the memories of my teenage brothers back when I was in grade school; the music they listened to and their activities.  Third, a picture of my mother in law at the age of 16.  For the first time, I saw the teenage girl that would become the 60 year old woman that was my mother in law.  The picture of the carefree sixteen year old girl showed me that we don't really know older people.

If you would like to win a copy of M.R. Tain's book This Isn't Normal please enter here:  This Isn't Normal Giveaway

Silhouette of a Sparrow Giveaway Winners

Silhouette of a Sparrow Giveaway Winners

I am excited to announce the five winners of Silhouette of a Sparrow Giveaway.  Molly Beth Griffin and her awesome publisher, Milkweed Press, have graciously offered to giveaway copies of Silhouette of a Sparrow.  Molly's book was nominated for a MN book award and is sure to win a special place in your heart.
Here are the winners:

Susanna from Susie the Bookworm
Tina from St. Paul, Minnesota
Monika from A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall
Monja from Medford, New York
Sharalyn

Congratulations!!

Enjoy your new book.

Here is an excerpt from my book review:

Griffin creates a strong, subtle storyline in Silhouette of a Sparrow.  It is enlightening to learn what a young woman's role in society was like in the 1920's and how hard it was to be different, much less

break out of society's traditional roles.

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley

The red mud of North Carolina gave birth to Adam Hope.  It had been storming for days when Evelyn, a young 17 year old farm girl, saw a  human form in the mud.  She carried this person into the farmhouse.  She isn't quite sure what she saw and doesn't trust her perceptions but this person formed into a woman who looked just like her within days.
They formed a bond, made up a story and Addie was born.

Soon Addie would metamorphosis into Adam, the love of Evelyn's life.    They married, had children, worked the farm and developed a horse business.  Adam was gifted with horses, unique and different in multiple ways.  He was human with supernatural qualities.  He was every girl's dream.

Evelyn lived in fear for the day when people would discover that Adam was different from other men.  She always wanted to tell her daughters or her mother the truth of Adam's origin but could never find the words to explain it.  One day her worst fear is realized at the funeral of one of her daughters.  Evelyn and Adam's life permanently changed that day when Adam became ostracized within their small North Carolina community.

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope is a unique and fierce love story.  In many ways it reminded me of the Biblical story of Adam and Eve.  Adam was born of the earth and to the earth he shall return.  Evelyn emerged from her mother's womb and Adam did not.  Riley has created a story that is touching and lovely.  In many ways she pushes the boundaries of what we think is human and natural.  Allowing for the fact that not everyone fits into the same mold of human perfection. There are variations and qualities that shapes us as human.

Riley does not offer explanations as to why Adam is the way he is.  What she creates is a believable ending to a unique life that makes sense.  It is up to the readers to decide who Adam is and to believe or not to believe in the story.  I loved it and thought is was creative and absolutely fascinating.  Like

Evelyn, I fell in love with Adam Hope.

This Isn't Normal Giveaway

This Isn't Normal by M.R. Tain Giveaway

M.R. Tain is the Minnesota Author in the Spotlight for the month of May and he is giving away 5 copies of his young adult novel, This Isn't Normal to Booksnob readers.  This giveaway is open internationally and will end the last day of May.  Good Luck.

Here is the synopsis of This Isn't Normal from Amazon:


The woman of the house came into the living room. Did you make your phone call, honey? Karla looked at the woman carefully. This could beyesmy great-grandmother, Vera Carlson. She looks young! Karla Hunsaker lives a normal life with her mother and little brother, until the fall of her junior year of high school when the last of her great-grandparents passes away. She wakes up the morning after the family meeting in their guest room only to find them both alive, along with their daughter, Cheryl, the grandmother Karla never knew. Karla assumes she is dreaming. Cheryl is Karlas age, and they share a strong family resemblance. But she never met her grandmother before this strange event, and her grandfather is an offish, grumpy old man. Author M. R. Tain opens a window in time in This isnt Normal, giving a millennial teen a look at her 1965 counterpart, as well as some fun and games and a legacy that fate had denied her. Karla spends a week immersed in mid-60s culture with her sixteen-year-old grandmother. The culture shock continues when Karla finds that she doesnt quite fit in, in 2005 anymore. Follow Karla on her subsequent journey as her memories complicate her life. It isnt until her senior year that she makes sense of the experience and is finally able to unwrap the gift that Cheryl unknowingly passed onto her.

Rules:
Open Internationally
Ends 5/31 at midnight
Good Luck.

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