HANUKKAH IN AMERICA by Dianne Ashton

Good morning, Blog Buds, and Happy Hanukkah!
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I picked this one out at NetGalley when I remembered Hanukkah was on the way.  This is more than just a book about a holiday.  It's a book about the Jewish people and faith in the United States.  Freedom of Religion here has enabled the Jews here to develop in a way unique, but still connected to their ancient roots in Israel.  At the same time, they've had to work at keeping it together midst cultural distraction.
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As I began reading this one, I was reminded of the Amish.  They've also managed to keep a distinct faith and culture over a couple of hundred years in the American Melting Pot.  Besides that, Jews don't go out and actively preach at people, trying to get them to convert.  Like the Amish, they share their faith by *example.*  I so respect that.  I'm content in my own faith, but I grew up around a lot of Bible-banging loudmouths who preached love and then treated people like crap.  That's why I call Sundays here 'Living It.'  There is authentic faith to be found, but you gotta look for it with a pure heart.  Anyway...
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The two most difficult things for me to understand about Hanukkah is how to spell it (I have to look it up every single time!) and when the exact dates are.  This year, it started on November 27th and will end on December 5th.
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This book explains how Hanukkah began.  Sometimes it's called the Festival of Lights and it celebrates the rededication of the Temple at the time of the Maccabean revolt during the second century, B.C.

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The Hanukkah menorah is a candlebra with eight branches, plus a ninth one, the tall one in the middle.  The ninth one is for practical light, because the others can't be used for anything other than the ceremony.  The story goes that the holy temple had been desecrated by a foreign invader who set up an idol and sacrificed pigs.  (Pigs are unclean under Jewish law.)  After the temple was liberated, it needed to be cleansed and rededicated.  During this time, there was only enough oil for one light, but the oil lasted eight days.  And so the temple was cleansed and rededicated.
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This book explains how American Jews have looked at this ancient story of faith and interpreted it and celebrated it from their point of view as Americans, like the part of liberating the temple.  Freedom from oppressors is a very big deal here, you know.
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This is probably why the story of Moses is so big to us that we've made several movies based on it, Moses leading the Children of Israel out of slavery and into freedom in the Promised Land.  We totally get that.  After all, that's why the Pilgrims came there, to escape oppression and live in freedom in a land of promise.  The sad thing about that is they didn't always offer the same freedom to others and Jews have been periodically persecuted throughout our history too.
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Nevertheless, the Jewish faith had the freedom to flourish here and also they had the issue of being so free that there were few boundaries between them and regular American culture.  How do you hold on to your own culture?  Well, you split off into a bunch of denominations as  you try to adapt.  This can be distressing, as it has been for Protestant Christians off and on.  And there is a nice, long history of the Jewish faith enduring and adapting here.  One way was to make Hanukkah more festive for the children, for the children are the future.
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This is a wonderful book, a personal history of Hanukkah every American should own.  Any one of us on a spiritual journey can relate and learn from this story, which can only enrich our souls.
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Much love.
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Oh, wait.
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I mean...
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Shalom.

AFTER THE ENDING by Lindsey Fairleigh & Lindsey Pogue

Hey there, Blog Buds!  Remember a while back I reviewed World War Z   and nagged you to get your flu shot?  Well, it's time for another nagging.
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I joined Goddess Fish Promotions   a while back too and signed up to host a Virtual Book Tour for an intriguing post-apocalyptic New Adult novel called INTO THE FIRE.  Well, it didn't require I review the book, but I was so intrigued that I really want to and so I hustled over NetGalley and delightedly found it.  Then, I discovered it was a Book Two in a series.  Being an old reviewer, I suspected the authors would be totally cool with me requesting Book One and reviewing it too.  And so I did and they did and here we are.
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Dani and Zoe are best friends and college students.  Their 'voices' are in First Person and well-crafted and believable.  First Person Point of View is very hard to pull off.  I know.  I keep trying.  And I'm still too embarrassed to show the results to the world.  Anyway, Dani and Zoe are college students and expertly portrayed in the age group with the typical college lifeness.  Having emerged from the protective cocoon of high school (for teens that phrase makes no sense) in which clean laundry and food magically appeared, they have little patience with their classmates who haven't.  Perfectly understandable.  After all, they work their butts off to earn the money to pay their bills.  They wash their own clothes and do their own grocery shopping.  They're adults, New Adults, but adults just the same.
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The Flu has been going through their college and its town, but no biggee, right?  It's just the Flu.  But, then, one by one, people they know and then people they love start dropping and dying from it.  Huh?  But, like I side, even though they're adults, they're 'New' at it and the harsh reality of life and death hasn't quite registered yet.  Like most twentysomthings, they're immortal.  Nevertheless, they adjust to reality quickly.  Badly shaken by the death of friends and a boyfriend, they get sick too, but they recover because they have some immunity left over from a mild case a while back.
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And they've got a big brother, Jason, who is a Green Beret with the United States Army.  Hellyah!
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Actually, he's Zoe's big brother, but he quickly becomes everybody's big brother, rounding up the survivors and organizing a Bug-Out to Colorado.  Dani's sweet him and he did go out of his way to come get her.
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Throughout these early chapters, the Point of View switches back and forth between Zoe and Dani, but it's not difficult to keep up 'cause they're Texting.  But, you know that's gotta end because the grid will come down sooner or later with no healthy, living people to keep it out.  Communications are gonna go out and then what?  This is a generation used to and utterly dependent on instant communication across thousands of miles.  They totally take it for granted.  I remember one guy just before Hurricane Sandy slammed into New Jersey said he was ready because his freezer was full of pizzas and his cell phone was all charged up.  Uh.  Yeah.
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One thing I really like about this book often goes untouched in post-apocalyptic novels written by guys.  And that is the presence of females.  And romance.  Guys are so focused on survival that they totally forget their reason for living in the first place.  So, I'll get one of those books and I'll ask the guy, "Um, so, in your next book your characters are going to run into some pretty girls, fall in love, and have lots of babies then, right?"  And they're like, "Uh, no."  And so then I'm like, "Okay, so your characters survive the end of the world, but humanity dies out a few years later anyway because they never had nookie again.  No females, no nookie, no babies, no more human beings...ever...again."  And they're like  "Uuuuhhh..."  Insert finger into nose.
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Anyway, not to worry about that in this story.  It's not a romance novel, but it does have believable romantic elements so you know humanity isn't going to die out. 
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Okay, the group bugs out, but the best friends are still hundreds of miles apart.  Someone manages to bring and keep a laptop going and so they email.  Different members of their two groups need to check on families as they make their way to a safe zone in Colorado.  Along the way, they see lots of dead people and also some live people who've gone crazy, though no one says the Z Word.  Also along the way, relationships are sorted out as each finds their place in the group.  Dani feels useless in a group of military commando types.  And Zoe's having telepathic, empathic impressions of others, not to mention nightmares of kissing her dead boyfriend while he's dead.  Eeeeww!
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But, that's not the only weird thing.  The military folks are remembering things from before the bug-out, how their bases were on lock-down so brutal that soldiers were shot if they tried to leave.  And, sure, the apocalypse has gone down and the girls haven't worn make-up in weeks, but interpersonal dynamics continue.  Like I said, sooner or later love will find a way.  And remember what I said about the crazy people, also known as the Crazies?  Well, there's some crazy jealousies and rivalries breaking out.  Is it just normal breakdowns or is something more sinister at work?  A room full of dead dudes in military fatigues and riddled with bullets and stacked up like cord wood puts it over the edge, methinks.
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I like post-apocalyptic fiction.  It's interesting to speculate how humans would go on After the Ending.  Each story has its strengths and weaknesses.  One I read recently was very good on the world-building and techno-babbles stuff and they even had females, but the author approached it with humans handling things in only one way - military-style.  In the end, I thought it was just too controversial.  I love our military, but humans come in all sizes, shapes, and sensibilities.  Each of us would find our own way and the point us humanity would go on.  In any case, I believe this book's strength lies in the interpersonal relationships of the main characters and their crew, learning who they can rely on and figuring out what to do together. 
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Tomorrow, I will be hosting the Virtual Book Tour right here, so please stop in and comment so you can win a prize.  And the next day I'll post my review of the next book after this one, Into the Fire.  In the meantime, do swing by and get your Flu Shot, 'kay?
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Told you I was gonna nag.
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http://www.theendingseries.com/

ABRAHAM LINCOLN Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

Like I was just telling my brilliant nephew the other day, sometimes I just like to read something a little twisted.  Abraham Lincoln...vampire hunter?  Geez, how more twisted can ya get?  Seriously though, it's a well-crafted tale which turns history on its head.

I know this one's been reviewed a bazillion times by better folks than me and made into a movie, which I have yet to see.  But, I've been meaning to read it for a long time and just haven't had the chance, so here it is.
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It all starts when a modern dude, sidetracked writer, going through a mid-life crises because he hasn't done any of the things he meant to do makes a casual acquaintance with one of the customers at his small town store, a gentleman named Henry.  The gentleman shops at the store fairly regularly for quite a while and then finally one day the two chat.  The storekeep hasn't had anyone to listen in a very long time and he can't seem to help spilling out his life story. 
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But, Henry's a good listener and the reader discovers why later.
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The incident passes and the storekeep goes on with his dull life.  Then, one day a package of books shows up.  And one of the books claims to be the secret journal of Abraham Lincoln.
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Thus, the alternate history of one our greatest presidents unfolds.
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We've all heard how Abraham Lincoln had the idyllic frontier childhood, born in a log cabin, growing up running through the Kentucky woods, swinging an axe and shooting a turkey when he was just a kid.  It paints a lovely picture, but the vampire infestation is left out.
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About half-way to grown-up, Abe's mother and some relative die miserable, mysterious deaths.  In the throes of grief and drunkenness, his father explains how his own father was murdered by a vampire and how he'd said it was Indians.  He goes onto explain how he took out a loan from a pudgy little creep who turned out to be a vampire.  When he couldn't repay the entire amount on time, the little creep chomped his wife and other members of his family.
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Abe is furious!  First, he's enraged by the vampire murdering his beloved mother who had homeschooled him, believed in him in a time and area where education was not a top priority.  And, second, he's angry with his father for letting greed guide his hand, for being too stupid to foresee that he couldn't repay the loan when he first took it out, for letting his family suffer for his selfishness.
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Abe takes upon himself to train as a vampire hunter, although he's never really heard of such a thing and has no idea how to go about it.  He only knows that he wants vengeance.  He buffs up his body, swinging his axe, and braces his mind with all the best books he can find. 
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Then, one day his chance comes.  He writes a letter to lure the vampire creep back to their farm.  The little creep has no idea Abe is onto him.  Thusly, with his trusty axe, Abe makes a quick end of the little bloodsucker who murdered his mother, much to the shock of his dimwitted father.
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Abraham goes on with his young adulthood while secretly continuing with his efforts to destroy every vampire in America.  Then, he runs into an old chick he can't quite get the better of and is saved by a certain gentleman.
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Henry's been watching and he's impressed.  He rescues Abraham, although the latter has a hard time seeing it that way at first.  Given time and a lot of talk, the two become friends, vampire and human.  Henry reveals the vampire thing to Abe and says he'll help him find the bad ones.  And so the two part ways, but ever so often Abe receives a letter pointing him towards vampires who deserve a date with a rather sharp axe.
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Abe proves an increasingly skillful hunter, but its a trip to New Orleans which tips him off to a much bigger threat.  He's always been repulsed by slavery, but down in the deep South he discovers pompous windbags selling their old and disabled slaves to vampires, knowingly!  And the poor things suffer hideous deaths in the process of being fed upon.  If you've read about Elizabeth Bathory, the Bloody Countess   you know what I mean.  She was a real person many believed to be a vampire because of the way she murdered.  Anyway...

And so Abraham is set on the path to freeing the slaves, the path to destiny.  You probably know the rest of his mundane life.  He became a lawyer, got married, had kids, ran for office, and eventually became president of the United States.  But, that path was a lot rockier, and bloodier, than we ever knew, because of the vast vampire conspiracy. 
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So, I'll end it here.  This is an old release with a movie out, but I don't want to give away too much anyway.
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In case you're wondering, the vampires in this one are more sci-fi, nothing magical about them, just sort of another breed of human, but with fangs and claws when they get really ticked off or hungry.
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Much love, Blog Buds.
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P.S. If anyone else has some Alternative History, sent the ARC my way please ;)

THE 19TH WIFE by David Ebershoff

Good morning, Blog Buds.  I meant to review a Fantasy today, honestly I did.  But, then, I picked up this book at a second-hand store and couldn't put it down.  I have such wide interests, so I mean to pace them.  Still, a bottleneck is bound to happen time and again.  This time it's on the Historical side.

Here's the blurb:   Faith, I tell them, is a mystery, elusive to many, and never easy to explain. Sweeping and lyrical, spellbinding and unforgettable, David Ebershoff’s The 19th Wife combines epic historical fiction with a modern murder mystery to create a brilliant novel of literary suspense.

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.

Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.

And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.
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Kimber An here again.

Most Americans have a hard time putting themselves back in time, back behind the eyes of someone who lived decades or centuries before.  If that's you, then Mr. Ebershoff will help you get there.  Eliza is female, for one thing, and for most of us her life story and rejected lifestyle is so different from ours that it's difficult to comprehend here in the 21st century.  So in comes Jordan, a young man with all the usual challenges you'd expect for a young adult these days.  Plus, he's gay.
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Then, you find out he grew up in a cult.
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Poor guy.
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I mean, geez, we all grew up with some challenges, but this guy is one of those who really got hammered.  And, yet, he survived and found his own strength.
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Anyway, he finds out via the Internet that his mother (who married his old-goat-father at age 14) has just been arrested for murdering his father.  If you know anything about domestic violence, you know how it messes with the mind.  Now, top that with religious brain-washing. 
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Jordan has no logical reason to help his mom.  She dumped him on the side of the road when he was just a kid because the Prophet told her to.  This totally defies the maternal instinct and you'd think it would break any sense of love or loyalty a person might have for his mother.   
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Jordan thought so too, but a tiny bit of it is left and so he drives back to Utah to visit his mother in jail.  He expects she's finally come to her senses and rejected the cult which coerced her into being raped at 14 by an old goat and then coerced her into abandoning her precious baby boy when he was 14.  I mean, surely.
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But, no.
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'Cause, you see, when people go through traumatic experiences, especially if they have no love, support, or professional help, they develop ways of surviving.  One is Denial.  That is, they deny the bad thing happened or that it was that bad.  Another way is to twist religion around so they feel they suffered for God and He'll reward them for it.
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Back to the story.  Jordan is justifiably angry, yet he digs deep again.  And he realizes his mother is innocent of the crime.  How could she be innocent when all the evidence points to her?  Well, he knows everything his mother's ever been through and he knows that she is still devoted to the cult and its prophet.  If she still believes in the cult, then she still believes it is God's will for her to be married to a monster and against God's will to do anything to protect herself or her children, much less murder the monster in cold blood.  It doesn't make sense.
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And so the journey begins. 
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Meanwhile, you have the historical backdrop narrative going which heightens the tension.
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The cult in this story is a splinter group of the Mormons, but I would not consider this book anti-Mormon.  The distinction is clearly made.  Also, every religious denomination has its crazies.  I think Jim Jones started out a Methodist, for example.  So, let's not get into Mormon-bashing.  I'm quite content with my own faith, but I'd like to add that I respect the mainstream Mormon church for how they look after their people.
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Pick this one up, folks, and be prepared not to put it down for a while.
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Much love.
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Mr. Ebershoff includes a PDF copy of Ann Eliza Young's original book on his website, among other fascinating things.   http://www.ebershoff.com/index.html

WORLD WAR Z

Finally!  Finally, Brad Pitt plays a character I like.  I mean, I don’t blame Brad Pitt for the roles he’s had before, but...anyway. 

The important thing about Brad Pitt is that he raises beautiful babies with Angelina Jolie.  They have six, you know.

The thing about Zombies is that they put a face on the gazillions of germs which can kill you, like the one for the Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the Black_Death which killed at least a third of Europe during the Middle Ages. 

Zombies are the personification of *pandemic.* 

I think it's because there's nothing more terrifying than a monster you can't see and, you know, germs can't be seen by the naked eye.

If you’ve ever seen pictures of, say, leprosy victims, you’ll see how the Zombie got its form.  Now, imagine there’s no cure and no escape.

Only a hundred years ago, the Flu Pandemic killed more people than World War I which was going on at the same time.

You will be getting your Flu shot this year, right?

Here it is at Barnes and Noble-

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-world-war-z-brad-pitt/16523355?ean=97363504047

World War Z is based on the novel by Max Brooks and I hope to read it soon.  I wished I'd read it first.

P.S. If this movie freaks you out, but you can’t drag yourself away from the undead, I recommend Zombieland next.  There's something about putting the funny on something terrifying that helps humans cope.

And if World War Z seems familiar, you might be thinking of this-

I'm a huge Will Smith fan, so I would have a hard time if someone asked me which I liked better.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dvd-i-am-legend-will-smith/10537903?ean=85391176350

 

In the end, I'd probably say XOMBIES by Walter Greatshell!  Another similar story which simply hasn't made it to the big screen yet.  I reviewed it a long time ago.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/xombies-walter-greatshell/1100316231?ean=9780441018352

Now, off you go to get that Flu Shot, 'kay?  Much love, Blog Buds.

Oh, by they way, if you haven't noticed, I think of zombies from a scientific point of view and through the lens of history.  The other kind are simply of no interest to me.

Whirlwind Redemption by Debra Cowan, a story from the anthology "Happily Ever After in the West"

Whirlwind Redemption   is about hundred pages long, which seems hefty for an anthology.  Nevertheless, it'll keep you engaged, especially if you were a fan of 'Dr. Quin Medicine Woman' back in the '90s. 
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Blurb:   When a bullet left Quentin Prescott's spine and spirit shattered, he broke up with first love Zoe Keeler so he wouldn't be a burden.  Now Zoe must burden him.  She needs a fake fiancé to get her inheritance.  Could this be Quentin's chance for redemption?
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So, the backstory is, like a typical male, Quentin made false assumptions about what matters and/or attracts a woman makes her fall in love and want to be with him and stay with him.  Like an idiot he dumped her, not realizing how he broke her heart in doing so. 
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As so often is the case, Quentin does some growing up in between that and meeting up with Zoe again.  He spends seven years in a wheelchair with a bullet fragment embedded next to his spine.  Unlike a lot of guys, he gets a second chance to make things right and live happily ever after. 
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Zoe's still deeply hurt though and Quentin must woo her anew and all over again.  This is made easier by Zoe still being in love with him, but more difficult because she's stumbled onto some desperados.  See, Zoe's a caregiver.  Her parents are dead.  Her sister is deaf and her special school needs to be paid.  Her brother has Special Needs too, probably Down's by the modern definition.  Not sure, but that's accurate because back then they didn't have a name or label for everything.  So, she needs some money and she has some inheritance coming to her, but with a catch - she must marry.
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Quentin's more than happy to oblige Zoe in the marriage department, not realizing her arrival and actions have riled some lowlifes bent on a scam which she could blow apart.  Time to be a hero!
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I enjoyed this one, but I must make a couple of cautionary statements.  If you love Historicals, but haven't tried Historical Romance you need to cut some slack.  Historical Romance authors, in my observation, know their history, but they can't always be accurate.  For example, not a lot of modern women I know think it's fun to make out with a guy who smells like chicken poop and has rotten teeth.  So, they kinda have to work with that, you know?
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Okay, so that's it, my very first official review for my new blog.  I feel a little rusty, but it's been loads of fun!  Much love, Blog Buds.
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Debra Cowan's Page at Harlequin
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FYI- I've reviewed for Lynna Banning before, but not Judith Stacy.  I'm certainly open to reviewing for Ms. Stacy though!   CRUSADER'S LADY by Lynna Banning

http://www.lynnabanning.net/

This would be Adult Fiction day

starting November 1st