This blog is the place where I post reviews of the books I have read. I review audiobooks, regular books and eBooks for authors and publishers as well as any other book or audiobook that catches my eye.
The Withering Trials of Gwendolyn Gray by B.A. Williamson (The Chronicles of Gwendolyn Gray, #3) Publication date: November 18th 2023 Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Young Adult
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Synopsis:
She Saved the City, But Lost Her Life
What would you do if your parents disappeared? How would you live, barely scraping by, lying to everyone in your life?
Two years ago, Gwendolyn Gray saved the City. But The Blackstar stole her parents and took them to another world. She lost her powers, her portals, and even her hair. So while the rest of the City is reveling in its newfound freedom, Gwendolyn has spent two years dodging the clutches of the Childkeeper and the Home for Unclaimed Children. Balancing work and school and impersonating her own parents hasn’t been great for her bipolar disorder, either.
So when a school bully and a vengeful faerie bring her carefully constructed lies crashing down around her, Gwendolyn seizes the chance to travel through the realms of story again, trying to find the world where her stolen parents are hidden. But battling bills is nothing compared to the gothic vampires and eldritch horrors she’ll meet along the way. And on a world of smoke and lightning and metal, a teenage rebel holds the key to saving her parents and getting back the life she lost.
Because growing up isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
B. A. Williamson is the award winning author of The Chronicles of Gwendolyn Gray. When not mining the unfathomable depths of consciousness for new words to sling, he can be found wandering Indianapolis, directing plays, taming children, and probably singing entirely too loud. Direct all complaints and darkest secrets to @bawrites and bawilliamson.com.
She thought the truth would set her free. Instead, it binds her to the supernatural.
Seeking the truth entangles Rumor in a web of angelic mysteries and demonic secrets. She thought the truth would set her free, but instead, it binds her to the supernatural forces that lurk in the shadows.
As her adopted father’s deceit unravels and DNA test results confound her, Rumor must navigate a treacherous path. Her once-trusted friend, Rex, becomes a formidable foe driven by desires beyond friendship, while an enigmatic stranger emerges as an unlikely hero offering everything she craves.
Rumor must find her voice in a world where romance dances with the supernatural, and dark fantasies blur the line between good and evil. In this gripping dark fantasy, she faces an impossible choice: the seductive allure of the stranger or the relentless pursuit of Rex.
Join Rumor on a thrilling journey through a world where angels and demons collide, love is tested, and the supernatural redefines destiny.
I’m Jamie, a paranormal fantasy writer. From graduating with a bachelor of Science in Visual Communication, and a masters in Education, my journey to where I am now hasn’t been straightforward. But I’ve always had a passion for storytelling (decades-worth of advice and anecdotes!) and look forward to sharing my fun with you.
I have been known to people watch and take those normal day-to-day situations to spin into storylines. Everyday human behavior can pack a lot of drama. I take ordinary events and enjoy unpacking people’s motives to use as inspiration for my writing.
A self-proclaimed coffee addict that loves all things paranormal and creatures that go bump in the night. When I’m not reading or writing, I spend time with my husband, Mark.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
The Doomsday Code Sara Yager Publication date: November 14th 2023 Genres: Adult, Thriller
In an artificial intelligence lab in Shanghai, something has gone terribly wrong. Days after a major breakthrough in machine learning, CyberGen Industries’ lead AI scientist is dead—and their precious prototype has vanished into the ether. An investigation reveals that, against all odds, the lab’s “unhackable” system has been breached.
The discovery, an algorithm mimicking human intelligence, is growing quickly—becoming more cunning and unpredictable with each passing hour. Soon its capabilities will eclipse its creators entirely.
Who stole it? And more troubling, what do they plan to do with it?
Ex-NSA hacker Adrian Pryor may be the only person on the planet capable of reining it in. He spent his career keeping the world safe, a vigilance for which he paid an enormous, personal price. Adrian knows there are people who will stop at nothing to control the powerful technology. He must find a way to do the impossible: to stop them, and to outmaneuver a rival more clever, more powerful, and more alien than anything he has ever seen.
Grounded in real-world science, Sara Yager’s wildly inventive debut brings advanced AI to life, illuminating a frightening, all-too-real truth about the future: we are one breakthrough away from inventing ourselves out of existence.
Adrian expected to see the other agents descend at any moment. Instead, a flash of movement from the top of the stairwell caught his eye. He looked up just in time to see a small metal object clattering down the stairs. A cold rush of panic coursed through him. “Run!”
He took two large strides and then shoved Olivia as hard as he could. They flew sidelong down the hallway, landing hard on stone, his body crushing hers in a protective shield. A second later, his night vision goggles flared painfully, and the entire room erupted in flames.
The grenade was as loud as a sonic boom in the silent chamber. The blast threw everyone to the ground. Shattered stone exploded from the walls and ceiling, followed by the thick pall of smoke and rock dust.
Adrian’s heart hammered in his chest.
Someone is still here.
His gaze shot to Wu. The agent was clearing rubble from around his legs and then proceeded to army-crawl back towards the stairwell, retrieving his CF-05 submachine gun. He pointed at the door. “You two—out, now!”
Before Adrian could react, a crack from overhead stopped him in his tracks. All eyes shot to the stairwell. A dark figure appeared, silhouetted by a hellish inferno behind him. Another gunshot blasted, followed by the whine of the man’s semi-automatic weapon as it unleashed a round past them. The attacker wheeled back from the force of the weapon’s discharge. Bullets rained from the ceiling, sparking, and ricocheting off stone. Adrian’s whole body tensed, pressing down tighter on top of Olivia.
When the bullets finally subsided, Agent Wu burst to his feet, streaking low across the chamber. He ducked into a cross-corridor and skidded to a stop, leaving only the barrel of his weapon visible around the corner.
Taking advantage of the momentary chaos, the assailant leapt from the stairs, charging headlong into the chamber and towards the solitary exit. He passed in a blur, leapfrogging over bodies as he went. He was almost to the door when another round cut the air, this time coming from Wu’s weapon. The fire caught the man on the back of his torso. Within seconds, his bullet-riddled form crumpled to the floor and the temple fell silent again.
Swearing, one of the agents next to Adrian rose to his feet. “You okay?”
“I’ll live.” Adrian’s eyes were on Olivia.
“How about you, ma’am?” the agent said.
“I’ve been better,” Olivia said, rubbing her arm.
“You’re lucky he got you out of the way before the grenade detonated,” the agent said. “If you had been at the bottom of that stairwell . . .”
Agent Wu joined them. “You’re safe now.”
Author Bio:
Sara Yager built a successful ten-year career in the semiconductor industry before leaving to care for her children full time. With a unique perspective as a mother and former tech professional, she brings a fresh and insightful voice to the world of speculative fiction.
A mom of two young boys, Yager came up with some of her best concepts for The Doomsday Code while waiting in the elementary school pickup line. She lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. This is her first novel.
TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE OFFICIAL CANADIAN BOOK LAUNCH – SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST …
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Inthis suspenseful YA thriller from debut author Marie Hoy-Kenny, four former friends—each with their own dark secret—must team up to solve a murder.
Calista, Zoe, Holly, and Denise were inseparable best friends when they spent their summers together at sleepaway camp. But after an unexplained tragedy forced the camp to close, the girls drifted apart.
Years later, reunited at their beloved camp counselor Violet’s funeral, the four former best friends quickly realize how much they’ve changed over the years. But despite their differences, they agree on one thing—Violet’s so-called accidental death was actually murder.
Unwilling to leave the case unsolved, they set off to uncover the truth—even if it means revealing the dark secrets of their pasts.
But someone wants them to stop investigating, and the anonymous threats keep coming, leaving them suspicious of everyone.
No one can be trusted, not even the girls from Hush Cabin.
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MY REVIEW:
I had the privilege of attending the Canadian Book Launch for “The Girls From Hush Cabin” which was held in Shelburne, Ontario, Canada.
During that exclusive event, an author reading took place as well as a Q & A session and book signing.
“The Girls From Hush Cabin” will resonate with anyone who has ever attended (or worked at) a kid’s sleepaway summer camp. Experiences like that have a way of forging deep and abiding friendships that often last a lifetime. For something to break that bond, it has to be traumatic in the extreme.
This Young Adult novel centers around a group of four friends – Calista, Zoe, Holly, and Denise – and takes place several years after attending camp together. They had all drifted apart, the reasons for which, is part of the mystery of the story.
Reunited due to the death of the camp counselor they all loved, they gather at her funeral only to discover that her death may not have been an accident – even though they seem to be the only ones who are suspicious.
What follows is a mystery, as well as a mystery within the mystery. Twists and turns abound and everyone’s secrets are exposed. Fans of Pretty Little Liars will love this book.
I rateTHE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN as 4 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ and if you have teenagers to buy Christmas presents for, you cannot go wrong with gifting them this book. In fact, it just might end up being their favorite gift.
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free advance copy of this book which I enjoyed enough that I purchased a hardcover copy for myself.
Marie Hoy-Kenny is a writer and theatre enthusiast from Ontario, Canada, where she lives with her guitar-playing husband, two creative and spirited young children, and mischievous bichon poodle.
Marie has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master of Science in Education.
She writes young adult and middle grade novels and has had several stories and poems published in literary magazines.
Her debut young adult thriller, THE GIRLS FROM HUSH CABIN, was published by Blackstone Publishing in August, 2023.
Her first picture book, PLANTS ARE NOT BORING, will be illustrated by Mike Deas and published by Orca Books in April, 2025.
Marie is represented by Emmy Nordstrom Higdon from Westwood Creative Artists.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Publishing great books by talented writers and forging connections with readers for the long-term.
In 1987, in a small garage in Southern Oregon, Blackstone Publish was born.
Founded by Craig and Michelle Black, the early days consisted of a small handful of family members and employees working out of their home, building the business one cassette tape at a time. With a fresh perspective on the reading experience, Craig and Michelle, along with their trusted team, found new and innovative methods to not only produce and distribute audiobooks, but also pioneered creative ways to collaborate with publishers, booksellers, and the audiobook listening community.
2017 marked Blackstone’s 30th anniversary, and the company continues to grow, innovate, and further the ascendancy of the overall audiobook business.
The new publishing venture, launched in 2015, is built upon this foundation. The goal is to publish groundbreaking books (fiction and nonfiction) by talented writers, and to forge long-term connections with readers, booksellers, librarians, and the overall literary community.
Blackstone is thrilled to be working with bestselling authors like P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast, Shelley Shepard Gray, Nicholas Sansbury Smith, Catherine Ryan Howard, and Cory Doctorow to publish print books, e-books, and audiobooks, furthering their commitment to bringing entertaining stories to as many people as possible in the most creative and innovative ways imaginable.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Highway of Tears is a 719-kilometre (447 mi) corridor of Highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert in British Columbia, Canada, which has been the location of crimes against many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) beginning in 1970. The phrase was coined during a vigil held in Terrace, British Columbia in 1998, by Florence Naziel, who was thinking of the victims’ families crying over their loved ones. There are a disproportionately high number of Indigenous women on the list of victims.
Unbroken is a remarkable work of memoir and investigative journalism focusing on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, written by an award-winning Gitxsan journalist who survived life on the streets against all odds.
As a Gitxsan teenager navigating life on the streets, Angela Sterritt wrote in her journal to help her survive and find her place in the world. Now an acclaimed journalist, she writes for major news outlets to push for justice and to light a path for Indigenous women, girls, and survivors. In her brilliant debut, Sterritt shares her memoir alongside investigative reporting into cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada, showing how colonialism and racism led to a society where Sterritt struggled to survive as a young person, and where the lives of Indigenous women and girls are ignored and devalued.
Growing up, Sterritt was steeped in the stories of her ancestors: grandparents who carried bentwood boxes of berries, hunted and trapped, and later fought for rights and title to that land. But as a vulnerable young woman, kicked out of the family home and living on the street, Sterritt inhabited places that, today, are infamous for being communities where women have gone missing or been murdered: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and, later on, Northern BC’s Highway of Tears. Sterritt faced darkness: she experienced violence from partners and strangers and saw friends and community members die or go missing. But she navigated the street, group homes, and SROs to finally find her place in journalism and academic excellence at university, relying entirely on her own strength, resilience, and creativity along with the support of her ancestors and community to find her way.
“She could have been me,” Sterritt acknowledges today, and her empathy for victims, survivors, and families drives her present-day investigations into the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women. In the end, Sterritt steps into a place of power, demanding accountability from the media and the public, exposing racism, and showing that there is much work to do on the path towards understanding the truth.
But most importantly, she proves that the strength and brilliance of Indigenous women is unbroken, and that together, they can build lives of joy and abundance.
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MY REVIEW:
Angela Sterritt has written a book that is important in innumerable ways. She writes with unflinching honesty about the trauma she has endured throughout her life as an Indigenous woman.
It is that shared intergenerational trauma that resonates throughout the stories in her memoir/treatise on the MMIW Crisis.
This book is not only a memoir. It is not just “True Crime.” Instead it is both a wake-up call and a call to action.
People need to know more. They need to see the Missing and Murdered women and girls as living, breathing, loving people who had lives and families and not just as a grim statistics.
However, people do need to be made aware of those grim statistics. I believe that many people are unaware of the facts.
The statistics are shocking and horrifying. For example…
“According to statistics gathered by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Indigenous women are twelve times as likely to be murdered or missing as any other women in Canada and sixteen times as likely to be murdered as white women… Simply being Indigenous and female is a risk.”
So, if being an Indigenous woman is so risky, what can be done? How can we help? What is the first step that people can take to attempt to make a difference?
Well, if you read this book you will have taken the first step … educating yourself about the realities that Indigenous women and girls face on a daily basis.Congratulations on joining the fight to find the many MMIWG.
This book is unlike any other. Even though it does talk about many MMIW victims, it is the story of Angela Sterritt’s life so far as well as that of people she has met or worked with during her life do far. Writing about her years of homelessness as a teen, she states:
“I was sometimes in survival mode as a child. But as a teenager, surviving the circumstances I’d been placed in gave me a better understanding of the world that was sharply divided by privilege and power on one side and disenfranchisement and exclusion on the other.”
I could go on and on about the abuses she, and other Indigenous youth experienced, but I truly believe that this book is an essential read and you MUST READ it for yourself.
I believe that Canadians are ashamed of the way Indigenous women and girls have been (and often still are) treated and it is that shame that allows the treatment to be continued. THIS MUST STOP.
It would be a crying shame if people were to skip reading this book. It is in incredibly important for every Canadian and US citizen to learn the truth about the systemic and widespread racism that continues to be ongoing in our countries.
If we read about, or watched a documentary film about these same injustices happening in other countries, we, as a society, would be appalled. We would raise up our voices and call for the authorities to put an end to such treatment. So, why is it that many seem to turn a blind eye when it happens here in Canada?
Angela Sterritt’s book is a CALL TO ACTION.
Please, please, please read this book. And once you have, pass it on to someone else, and have them pass it on again. It is up to us to recognize the injustices and to raise up our voices. We MUST demand action – NOW.
I am rating UNBROKEN as 5+ out of 5 Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Angela Sterritt is an award-winning journalist, writer, and artist. Sterritt has worked as a journalist for close to twenty years and has been with the CBC since 2003.
She currently works with CBC Vancouver as a host and television, radio, and digital reporter.
She is a proud member of the Gitxsan Nation and lives on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh territories, Vancouver, Canada.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Greystone Books is a leading independent publisher of books about nature, science, health, and social issues, with a commitment to environmental stewardship.
We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint in our production and supply chain. We print on paper that meets international standards set by globally recognized organizations that certify paper products sourced with socially responsible and environmentally friendly methods.
Founded in Vancouver in 1993 and named after the greystone commonly used in heritage architecture in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, our name reflects both the prairie roots of founding publisher Rob Sanders and a material grounded in the natural world.
We publish books that provide insight into living with a deep connection to nature: books that show readers how we can respect, protect, and care for the species we share this planet with—and how to create a future with them in mind.
As part of our commitment to protecting the environment, we publish a collection of our books in partnership with the David Suzuki Institute (DSI), a non-profit organization that raises public awareness and advances political action in Canada on the climate and biodiversity crisis and their solutions. Proceeds from the books published in partnership with the DSI help fund their organizing and advocacy initiatives.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
2019 Foreword INDIES Award, Gold for Autobiography & Memoir
Bronze Medal winner in the Independent Book Publishers Awards
In the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the late twentieth century was a time of unprecedented hope for democracy and freedom in Eastern Europe. The collapse of the Soviet Union left in its wake a number of independent countries and Communist propaganda was being displaced by Western ideals of a free press. Young writers, journalists, and adventurers such as Katya Cengel flocked from the West eastward to cities like Prague and Budapest, seeking out terra nova. Despite the region’s appeal, neither Kyiv in Ukraine nor Riga in Latvia was the type of place you would expect to find a twenty-two-year-old Californian just out of college. Kyiv was too close to Moscow. Riga was too small to matter—and too cold. But Cengel ended up living and working in both. This book is her remarkable story.
Cengel first took a job at the Baltic Times just seven years after Latvia regained its independence. The idea of a free press in the Eastern Bloc was still so promising that she ultimately moved to Ukraine. From there Cengel made several trips to Chernobyl, site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. It was at Chernobyl that she met her fiancé, but as she fell in love, Ukraine collapsed into what would become the Orange Revolution, bringing it to the brink of political disintegration and civil war. Ultimately, this fall of idealism in the East underscores Cengel’s own loss of innocence.
From Chernobyl with Love is an indelible portrait of this historical epoch and a memoir of the highest order.
FROM CHERNOBYL WITH LOVE: REPORTING FROM THE RUINS OF THE SOVIET UNION by Katya Cengel is a fascinating and entertaining memoir.
Katya may have a Russian first name, but she is decidedly not Russian. Instead, she is a white woman who was born and raised in California. However, that fact didn’t stop her from applying to a reporter position in the Latvia.
With both the enthusiasm and naivety of a young adult, Katya had absolutely no idea what she was in for. She didn’t speak the language. She knew almost nothing about the politics of the area.
You would assume that someone who had grown up in California with it’s temperate climate and easy access to health care and all other amenities of our first-world country would get the heck out of Eastern Europe after experiencing her first winter. Not Katya Cengel. She is made of sterner stuff than 99% of the rest of the citizens of the United States.
Reading about her exploits and adventures will hold readers riveted. From skydiving with questionable parachutes to visiting the restricted area at Chernobyl (twice) it is impossible to put this book down.
From Chernobyl With Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union has won multiple awards and each one is well deserved. This book has everything that a great read should have – with the added benefit that it is all true.
Travel, adventure, crime, corruption, food instability, harsh living conditions, friendship, love, lust and a medically life-threatening situation. This book has it all … and more.
Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of this book asap.
I rate “From Chernobyl with Love” as 5 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
*** Thank you to the author for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
Katya Cengel is a freelance writer and author based in California. Her work has appeared in New York Times Magazine, Marie Claire, and Wall Street Journal among other publications. She has reported from North and Central America, Europe, Asia and Africa and was based in the former Soviet Union for half a decade. She was a features and news writer for the Louisville Courier-Journal from 2003 to 2011.
She is the author of Eric Hoffer Academic Press 2023 award winner, Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY) 2020 winner and Foreword Indies 2019 winner “From Chernobyl with Love: Reporting from the Ruins of the Soviet Union”; “Exiled: From the Killing Fields of Cambodia to California and Back” and “Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life”. Her latest book is Straitjackets and Lunch Money.
She has been awarded grants from the International Reporting Project, the International Women’s Media Foundation and the International Center for Journalists. Her journalism has been recognized with a Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Award and a Society for Features Journalism Excellence-in-Features Award.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Potomac Books has a long and distinguished pedigree. Founded in 1983 as the U.S. imprint of Brassey’s, a renowned British publishing house established in the nineteenth century, Brassey’s-U.S. was acquired by Books International in 1999 and renamed Potomac Books in 2004.
The University of Nebraska Press bought Potomac Books in 2013, acquiring its impressive backlist in military history, politics, current events, international affairs, terrorism, intelligence, and national security. As a general-interest imprint of UNP, Potomac continues to build on its strong roots in these fields, keeping readers informed about the critical issues and challenges of today’s world.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This IS NOT her story.
Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?
But nothing with fairies is ever simple.
Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…
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“The way Thornhedge turns all the fairy tales inside out is a sharp-edged delight.” —Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor
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MY REVIEW:
I read a few of the early reviews for THORNHEDGE, and was intrigued. So, thanks to #MacmillanAudio and #Netgalley I was able to receive an advance copy of the Thornhedge” audiobook.
Listening to Jennifer Blom narrate this phenomenal story was an experience not to be missed.
There have been many, many books published over the past few years that are retellings of fairy tales with more modern perspectives and diverse characters which is fantastic. However, none of those other authors have anywhere near the originality or imagination of those written by T. Kingfisher.
T. Kingfisher (a pseudonym for multi award-winning author Ursula Vernon) is my type of woman. Her imagination, creativity, and pure, unadulterated ‘twistedness’ make her books captivating and un-put-down-able.
THORN HEDGE may start out as a Princess-Locked-In-A-Tower story, but readers quickly realize that, for once, rescuing the princess is not what this story is about.
I refuse to ruin even a small part of this book for potential audiobook listeners, so suffice it to say that readers from the age of 8 to 98 will love this listening experience.
I rate THORNHEDGE as 6 out of 5 Stars ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ and cannot recommend this strongly enough – you NEED to pre-order this audiobook and/or the print version asap.
Even though I now own a copy of the audiobook, I want ahead and pre-ordered a copy of the hardcover because of the superb artwork I saw only a small taste of. I am excited to receive my copy.
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook. ***
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This is the hardcover version of this book that I Pre-ordered because I most definitely want this book in my collection.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
T. Kingfisher is the vaguely absurd pen-name of Ursula Vernon, an author from North Carolina. In another life, she writes children’s books and weird comics.
She has been nominated for the World Fantasy and the Eisner, and has won the Hugo, Sequoyah, Nebula, Alfie, WSFA, Coyotl and Ursa Major awards, as well as a half-dozen Junior Library Guild selections.
What is coming soon from T. KINGFISHER? Look at the chart above.
I will be posting my review of “What Moves The Dead” in the next few days. You definitely don’t want to miss out on this fabulous book … T. Kingfisher has created another absolute masterpiece.
This is the name she uses when writing things for grown-ups. Her work includes multiple fairy-tale retellings and odd little stories about elves and goblins.
When she is not writing, she is probably out in the garden, trying to make eye contact with butterflies.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Download a free audiobook version of T. Kingfisher’s Short Story “ORIGIN STORY” by clicking HERE.
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ABOUT THE NARRATOR:
JENNIFER BLOM is an audiobook narrator and actor living in New York. She has a varied background in many fields but found her passion in the creative pursuits.
Jennifer has been a junior software engineer, a technical support specialist, and is involved in theater both on and offstage. She is also a singer and loves playing her Ukulele.
She has studied 3D animation, game design, true crime and forensic psychology, you know, for fun. She loves knowing about how the world works at a deeper level.
Besides narrating she also runs Reaping Audiobooks where she leads the all female or non-binary crew in the task of post production on audiobooks.
She also coaches others in the art of using Reaper and on efficiency in general. She loves helping people find the magic and joy in technology again.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
Macmillan Audio was founded in 1987 as Audio Renaissance. With more than twenty years in the business, Macmillan Audio continues to publish audio editions of the best fiction and non-fiction books from our fellow Macmillan trade publishers, as well as many other publishers outside the Macmillan family.
In 2001, the company was acquired by Macmillan, and in 2007 it took on its current name.
That same year, Macmillan Audio launched a children’s imprint, Macmillan Young Listeners, which has been going strong ever since.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
A wildfire of a debut memoir by internationally recognized French/Cree/Iroquois journalist Brandi Morin set to transform the narrative around Indigenous Peoples.
Brandi Morin is known for her clear-eyed and empathetic reporting on Indigenous oppression in North America.
She is also a survivor of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis and uses her experience to tell the stories of those who did not survive the rampant violence.
From her time as a foster kid and runaway who fell victim to predatory men and an oppressive system to her career as an internationally acclaimed journalist, Our Voice of Fire chronicles Morin’s journey to overcome enormous adversity and find her purpose, and her power, through journalism.
This compelling, honest book is full of self-compassion and the purifying fire of a pursuit for justice.
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MY REVIEW:
Content warning: rape, child abuse, racism, intergenerational trauma, suicide, and loss of a pregnancy.
Honest, compelling, and one hundred percent real.
Brandi Morin is my new hero because she tells it like it is. No molly-coddling, no sugar coating, no lies to spare the reader from the ugliness of genuine truth.
Brandi Morin’s bravery is nothing short of inspirational. Her book: OUR VOICE OF FIRE is a memoir of her life. It is also a truthful (and sometimes ugly) look at the effect colonialism has had on Canada’s Indigenous peoples.
When Brandi discovered that her beloved kohkum (grandmother) had kept a journal of sorts, it set her on a new path in life.
“Each small scrap of paper, each page in her journal, fed the spark of curiosity within until it was a roaring fire of need. [Brandi] needed to know more. About Kohkum. About [herself]. About [her] people.”
Brandi writes:
“Without my even realizing it, my feet were set on a new path. Over the next few years, I began to hunt for the truth…”
That path has led her to become a nationally recognized voice for Indigenous peoples, and ultimately led to the creation of this book.
Honesty is always the best policy in my opinion, however, Canada has continually glossed over the dark parts of its history. Brandi Morin’s journalism career calls the government out on their hypocrisy and on the deeply embedded and systemic racism that exists to this day.
In writing this memoir, Brandi is speaking out for all those women and girls, past and present, who have had their voices silenced in a variety of ways.
She is also speaking out for herself despite the fact that; “Sometimes it feels easier and kinder to just leave those smoking memories alone, protecting myself and my loved ones with silence.”
But, Brandi has learned that
“… silence is a tool of violence used against [her] people for generations in the attempt to erase and eradicate [them].”
There is a belief held by Indigenous Peoples that trauma is intergenerational and that, on average, it takes seven generations to rid a family of the effects of that trauma. If that family experiences more trauma, such as the Residential School System, the Sixties Scoop, and the ongoing, deeply ingrained systemic racism of Canada today, those seven generations start all over again.
As heart-wrenching as it must have been for her, Brandi bares her soul in this memoir.
“I endured beatings and verbal abuse from my mother, who was unwittingly passing along her inheritance of trauma and violence to me. There are bloody encounters that I can clearly picture today, but I won’t go into details. My dad would sometimes choke me against the wall until I was close to passing out at the requests from my mother to ‘deal with me’…”
Sadly, Brandi’s experiences are far from unique.
This must stop and it is through the publication of books such as this one that people are able to learn the truth and to actively seek to change things for the better.
OUR VOICE OF FIRE should be required reading for everyone, especially for anyone who doubts the lingering effects of familial trauma.
I rate this book as 7 out of 7 Stars
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
If you are interested in raw, unapologetic honesty, OUR VOICE OF FIRE by Brandi Morin is a Must Read.
*** Thank you to #Edelweiss for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
BRANDI MORIN is an award-winning French/Cree/Iroquois journalist from Treaty 6, Alberta, Canada.
For the last ten years Brandi has specialized in sharing Indigenous stories, which have influenced reconciliation in Canada’s political, cultural, and social environments.
She is one of Canada’s most prominent voices on Indigenous issues.
Brandi has published or broadcasted with the New York Times, National Geographic, the Guardian, the Toronto Star, Al Jazeera English, Vice, Elle Canada, CBC’s Power & Politics , and the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network National News, among many other outlets.
Brandi won a Human Rights Reporting award from the Canadian Association of Journalists for her work with the CBC’s Beyond 94 project tracking the progress of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Before there was a literary scene in Canada, writers Dennis Lee and David Godfrey founded House of Anansi Press to publish poetry. It was the heyday of hippie Yorkville, when Toronto teemed with draft dodgers and their youthful American energy, and Canada was celebrating Expo 67 and its 100th anniversary.
Change was in the air, and Canadians wanted to read books written by Canadians. Anansi expanded to publish authors such as Michael Ondaatje, Matt Cohen, Northrop Frye, Erín Moure, and Margaret Atwood (who worked here as an editor).
Now under the ownership of Scott Griffin, House of Anansi Press is Canada’s leading independent publisher. We continue to break new ground with award-winning and bestselling books that reflect the changing nature of the world and the country, and we help shape the national conversation with the publication of the annual CBC Massey Lectures (in conjunction with University of Toronto’s Massey College and CBC Ideas) with contributors like Martin Luther King, Jr., Ursula Franklin, and Tanya Talaga. Anansi continues to publish poetry, as well as fiction, nonfiction, drama, French-Canadian writers in translation, lifestyle, and authors from around the world. We take pride in finding and developing talent, publishing Indigenous, Black, and less mainstream writers, and firing up the imagination with Very Good Books.
House of Anansi Press respectfully acknowledges that the land on which we operate is the Traditional Territory of many Nations, including the Anishinabeg, the Wendat and the Haudenosaunee. It is also the Treaty Lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
Something is happening to the residents of Eighth Block Tower….
There’s radiation in the walls. Salt covers the hallways. The food and water are poisonous. The residents are trapped and losing their minds.
Sanity is a myth. Sickness is life.
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MY REVIEW:
I received this book from NetGalley and have to admit that the reason I requested it was because of the genre it was listed as That Genre is Horror.
THE TOWER starts off slowly but immediately the reader realizes that they are not in Kansas anymore. If you enjoy your horror with Sci-Fi elements, you will probably enjoy this book.
With story elements such as a giant green brain 易 and halls that are coated in salt, you know this story is truly strange.
The author may be a bit twisted, but those twisted story elements are exactly what sucks the reader in. William Pauley III has a terrific grasp on human motivation and a true talent for creating three dimensional characters.
All in all, I enjoyed this trip into the fantastical world of THE TOWER, but I definitely think you need to be in the correct frame of mind to delve into the truly weird when you read this book.
I rate it as 3 out of 5 ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
*** Thank you to #NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
William Pauley III is the author of Automated Daydreaming and Hearers of the Constant Hum.
Dead End Follies recently published an article calling him “one of the most recognizable voices in weird literature.”
He lives in Lexington, KY.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
Straight, two-time Hugo Award nominee Chuck Tingle’s first horror novella, is now in audio!
When a strange tear in the cosmos appears within Earth’s annual path, the consequences are disastrous. For one night a year, the vast majority of humans now undergo a frightening mental change, transforming into hateful, rage-fueled zombies who will stop at nothing to satiate their desire for brutality.
While not much is understood about this horrific mass hysteria, the demographic it effects is very specific: cisgender straight people.
A few years after the first of these tragic events, four friends from across the queer spectrum look for safety in solitude, hunkering down in a remote desert cabin for what is now known as Saturation Day. With a vaccine available for straight people to curb their violent episodes, some predict the worst is over. Others aren’t so sure.
As night falls, it becomes clear that survival isn’t guaranteed this Saturation Day.
“STRAIGHT” by Chuck Tingle is a novella, so in audiobook format, it is a quick three and a half hour listen. Despite it’s short length, this story is a fabulous listen which horror fans will thoroughly enjoy.
Issac is a bisexual man who is living in a future dystopian Los Angeles, a world that is different than our current reality.
Set in the third year since the first “Saturation Day,” Issac and three queer friends have made plans to leave the city for the duration of that year’s Saturation Day. They are heading deep into the desert to avoid people, hopefully entirely.
So, what the heck is Saturation Day? Well, for some reason, once a year all cisgender (straight) people are overcome with hatred towards anyone who is part of the LGBTQIA2S community. That hatred causes them to attack and kill any queer person they come into contact with.
I love the premise of this audiobook. “Straight” is a mixture of David Moody’s “Hater” and Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead.”
If you are a fan of horror, you should enjoy this audiobook. The narrator does a fantastic job of keeping pace with the escalation of violence, while also using inflection and tone to engage the reader’s attention.
I rate “Straight” as 4 out of 5 Stars. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with a free advance copy of this audiobook.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Two time Hugo Award finalist Dr. Chuck Tingle is an erotic author and Tae Kwon Do grandmaster (almost black belt) from Billings, Montana by way of Home of Truth, Utah.
He currently resides in the City of Devils (Los Angeles).
After receiving his PhD at DeVry University in holistic massage, Chuck found himself fascinated by all things sensual, leading to his creation of the “tingler”, a story so blissfully erotic that it cannot be experienced without eliciting a sharp tingle down the spine.
To learn more about this author visit the following links:
André Santana is a NYC-based audiobook narrator and plastic plant connoisseur on a journey to tell great stories. He’s a Black, Latine, and non-binary voice actor drawing from his background in spoken word poetry, improv, and public speaking to deliver intentional and human performances. Outside of the booth, André is an avid writer, Polaroid photography enthusiast, and a prolific Google Maps reviewer. As a passionate reader, André holds a particular love for 1st-Person and YA novels. However, he finds wonderful stories everywhere and uses his warm, emotionally dynamic voice in titles across Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Literary Fiction, and more. With a keen sense for character creation and a genuine love for the work he narrates, André is an inevitable fan of every book he records and shares that excitement through his performances.
To learn more about this Narrator visit the following links:
Founded in 1980, Tor Publishing Group has been at the forefront of the science fiction and fantasy genre for decades and has won every major award in the SFF field.
In addition to the eponymous imprint Tor Books, Tor Publishing Group includes a number of specialty imprints, all driven by the editorial passion that has always been Tor’s signature.
Forge Books is committed to publishing quality thrillers and mysteries, speculative fiction, contemporary fiction, and media-related nonfiction.
Nightfire publishes horror books across the breadth of the genre.
Tor Teen and Starscape are dedicated to publishing a select list of quality science fiction, fantasy and contemporary fiction for young readers and teen. Tordotcom Publishing specializes in original science fiction and fantasy, both in novella and novel length.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
Macmillan Audio was founded in 1987 as Audio Renaissance. With more than twenty years in the business, Macmillan Audio continues to publish audio editions of the best fiction and non-fiction books from our fellow Macmillan trade publishers, as well as many other publishers outside the Macmillan family.
In 2001, the company was acquired by Macmillan, and in 2007 it took on its current name.
That same year, Macmillan Audio launched a children’s imprint, Macmillan Young Listeners, which has been going strong ever since.
To learn more about this Publisher visit the following links:
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