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status:           Read in December, 2012

I was part of Seth’s Kickstarter so I bought this early, and reading is has totally fired me up to commit to creating and sharing my own art.

There were many parts of the book that resonated with me, but in combination with Steven Pressfield’s Turning Pro, the message is really to pick yourself, and persist at the practice of creation. “Creating art is a habit, one that we practice daily or hourly until we get good at it … Art isn’t about the rush of victory that comes from being picked. Nor does it involve compliance. Art in the post-industrial age is a lifelong habit, a stepwise process that incrementally allows us to create more art.”

This book is useful for writers, but I would also urge parents to read it in order to understand the world your children are growing up in.The industrial world is disappearing. The old world of standardized exams, tick-box education and guaranteed jobs won’t be there for much longer, and people need to be creative to survive the future. But more than that, life’s too short to spend it doing something that isn’t rewarding. So aim to thrive and not just survive.

I spent 13 years as an IT consultant, a miserable cubicle worker, rewarding myself with sugar and alcohol in order to make it through each day. In September 2011, I finally broke out of that old life, and I couldn’t be happier. Sure, I have less money now, fewer trappings of (so-called) worldly success, but I am making my art, and this feels like real life.
I know some of you are struggling around the same issues, so as you move into 2013, I would recommend reading “The Icarus Deception” for some inspiration.

I read a lot of crime novels. One of my favorite authors is John Sandford, and it’s because his character, Lucas Davenport, is different from most of the other detectives out there. I picked up The Geneva Decision based on a recommendation and I’m glad I did. I ended up liking Pia Sabel, the female lead, for the same reasons I like Lucas; she’s different. It took me a while to buy into Pia Sabel, but once I did, I found myself liking her.

The pacing was good and the story moved along nicely, although at times I would have liked a few of the secondary characters to have had a little more page time.

Seeley James does a good job of creating the setting and taking the reader to new places. The story starts off in Geneva, but the chase leads the reader to Africa and Vienna also. There are a lot of nice specifics, especially in Geneva, that help transport you there and make you feel more of a part of the story. His writing style makes for an easy read, and the book isn’t riddled with errors like so many books are. I think James is a writer to keep your eye on, and I’m looking forward to the next Pia Sabel book.

bookshelves:         done

Wise Men Say
Emmy is in love with a dead man. According to her sister anyway. Her fiancee has been missing in action for 20 years. Something inside her makes her believe that he is still out there and until they bring her his body, he will stay alive in her heart. Her son now in the military himself, helps her when he can. She couldn’t be more proud. She misses him daily and cries often for his return, even after 20 years. She has never given up hope. He was the love of her life and she pushes on and has fun with her niece but waits for his return.Even though this one was short. Talk about a build up. You know who is gonna show and about what is going to happen but I still cried. Miss Burke gets you to feel what and how intense Emmy’s love is for him. This is one book I really wish had been longer. Even though I really enjoyed it, Miss Burke could have made this one into a full book. Going through Emmy’s life and showing there love through remembering. Showing bits and pieces of his life, what he goes through and what he remembers and thinks about at the worst of times. I would read that book in a heartbeat. I would watch that movie in a heartbeat! So I did really enjoy this book, but I wanted more from this book. I would read this author again in a anytime!complimentary book given for a free review. juliesbookreview.blogspot.com

status:           Read in December, 2012

A Hook in the Sky is a quintessential baby boomer novel, a remarkable look at a man in transition from the world he knows to the one he has only imagined. It is a story of gratification delayed, realized and rejected, a commentary on the shades of green of the other man’s grass. The protagonist, Robert, is just retiring from a career with the United Nations when first we meet him. What follows is his long-awaited life of freedom, a life in which he can pursue his art, an interest he has shelved for decades. From the minute he leaves his office for the last time, things go awry. Author Claude Nougat knows her subject. Herself retired from the United Nations after a twenty-five year career, she brings a unique perspective to her main character. A world citizen now living in Italy with her Sicilian husband, she displays an amazing breadth of experience, not only as a diplomat, but also as someone who knows the ins and outs of modern and classical art, the vibe of New York City, London and Paris, the countryside of Umbria.(As a kid growing up in East Texas, I thought Paris was a town just south of the Red River.) A Hook in the Sky is a complex, multi-layered treatment of many of the issues people confront as they age and reflect on what has been, what is, what might be. It bounces between worldly cynicism and humanitarian values, between greed and self-denial, between lust and love. When Robert and his estranged wife, the owner of an art gallery in New York, re-unite to work on a project, things take an unpredictable and deadly turn.  Nougat uses the project, a combination of ladders that leads upward through a labyrinth toward a hook that floats in the heavens, as a symbol of the search for meaning, a contemporary Tower of Babel. Books like A Hook in the Sky demonstrate the coming of age of the baby boomer novel.  Claude Nougat, a pioneer in the genre, has set a high standard for authors who hope to tread that path.

status:           Read in December, 2012

Fasten your seatbelts, children—from the first, startling page MONEYLAND propels the reader on a suspense thrill ride filled with brutal twists and stunning turns. This second gem in the Sheriff James Pruett series will have you rooting for the good guys as they lock and load, and take on the most vicious drug lord imaginable.
With hauntingly beautiful prose, Guthrie propels the reader across an unforgiving Wyoming after the Sustantivo Cartel’s small plane crashes with millions in drug money on board. What follows is part Hollywood blockbuster, part morality play blended in a skillfully crafted plot.
MONEYLAND is sure to establish Guthrie as a master of the suspense genre. I dare you to pick this novel up, and try to put it down.