Book Review: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes

Title: Don Quixote

Author: Miguel de Cervantes

Translation: Edith Grossman

Paperback: 940 pages

Audiobook: Narrated by George Guidall

Published: April 26, 2005

   (first published 1605

Publisher: Harper Perennial

from Goodreads:

Edith Grossman's definitive English translation of the Spanish masterpiece. Widely regarded as the world's first modern novel, and one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain. Unless you read Spanish, you've never read Don Quixote.

Alleluialu's Review:

I'm done! I'm done! I'm done! I have been listening to this audiobook for 4 months! And I love it. These stories about Don Quixote and Sancho Panza are very entertaining - so funny. The narrator of this audiobook did a great job changing voices for different characters. His Sancho voice was perfect. I never really knew what Don Quixote, the book, was about. It is a series of stories of Don Quixote and the adventures he and his squire, Sancho Panza, experienced in their travels. Don Quixote was a lover of books of chivalry and errant knights and sought to live according to the principles he imagined were in those books. The only thing that disappointed me was that Don Quixote never actually found his love, Dulcinea of Toboso. I guess that is a spoiler. Sorry.

I gave this book 5 stars. It is a classic and it's wonderful! You can get a copy at your local library or from Amazon here or Barnes & Noble here. By the way, my edition had a special deckle edge to the pages that makes it seem like a very old book. I really like that.

Book Review: Unstoppable by S.R. Johannes

Title: Unstoppable

Author: S.R. Johannes

Kindle Edition: 275 pages

Published: June 3, 2014 by Coleman & Stott

Series: The Nature of Grace (#3)

from Goodreads:

After everything that has happened, Grace moves to the Everglades to live with her grandmother, Birdee, and hang out with old man Rex, Birdee's "friend with benefits". Grace quickly befriends Dylan, Rex's nephew, and Dylan's girlfriend, Sadie, who is a die-hard teen activist. Sadie spends her time leading protests against the roadside zoos that run rampant in Florida with a total disregard for animals or the flimsy law.

One day while out in the marshes of the Everglades, Grace and her friends rescue an abused—and endangered—Florida panther. She and Birdee spend time rehabilitating the animal. But when the panther runs off, Grace follows it to Uncle Bob's, a large roadside zoo they all have been protesting. One that is illegally filled with a variety of endangered and exotic animals. Before she can rescue the panther, she and her friends are kidnapped by the ruthless owner and dragged deep into the Everglades for a hunting challenge.

Only this time, Grace is the prey.

During a sick game of cat and mouse, Grace and her friends are offered one chance at survival, but only if they reach civilization before being caught. With a small head start and very little supplies, only time and skill stand between the hunter and the hunted. But out in the Everglades, there may be more dangers than Grace realizes.

Against all odds, Grace must make it out alive and win, or everything she holds dear could be lost.

Alleluialu's Review:

I love Grace. She is such a spunky little thing. This series is exciting and suspenseful with lots of twists and turns. If you enjoy the outdoors, these books have it all: the mountains, the Everglades, bears, snakes, alligators, mountain lions and even a sweet little momma monkey. Grace has been brought up to respect nature and to love animals - even those that could possibly eat her. Grace has learned all kinds of survival skills which, of course, she has to use in the situations she gets herself in. She is smart, resourceful and very brave. Over the three books, she loses people - her father and some of her friends, but she also finds new friends who she connects with immediately. She is a conservationist who brings animal abuse to the attention of us all. As I said before, these books are very exciting. There are also relationships, but not mushy ones. Things are implied, but unless your imagination goes there, you won't blush too much. A great book for teenagers and young adults who enjoy nature and preserving our wildlife.  

I gave this one 5 stars, too! I loved it! Here are my reviews of Uncontrollable and Untraceable as well. You can get your ebook on Amazon here. Paperback release is scheduled for later this month. 

Book Review: 11/22/63 by Stephen King

Title: 11/22/63
Author: Stephen King
Paperback: 880 pages
Published: July 24, 2012 by Gallery Books
 (first published November 2011)
Setting: Maine 2011; Derry, Maine 1958;
  Jodie, Texas
Literary Awards: World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Novel (2012), Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire Nominee for Roman étranger (2014), Goodreads Choice for Best Science Fiction (2011), Kono Mystery ga Sugoi for Best Translated Mystery Novel of the Year in Japan (2014), Japanese Booksellers Award Nominee for Translated Fiction (2014)

from Goodreads:

Life can turn on a dime—or stumble into the extraordinary, as it does for Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in a Maine town. While grading essays by his GED students, Jake reads a gruesome, enthralling piece penned by janitor Harry Dunning: fifty years ago, Harry somehow survived his father’s sledgehammer slaughter of his entire family. Jake is blown away . . . but an even more bizarre secret comes to light when Jake’s friend Al, owner of the local diner, enlists Jake to take over the mission that has become his obsession—to prevent the Kennedy assassination. How? By stepping through a portal in the diner’s storeroom, and into the era of Ike and Elvis, of big American cars, sock hops, and cigarette smoke. . . . Finding himself in warmhearted Jodie, Texas, Jake begins a new life. But all turns in the road lead to a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald. The course of history is about to be rewritten . . . and become heart-stoppingly suspenseful.

Alleluia's Review:

This is a doorstop book! 849 pages! I definitely would recommend reading it before you used if for that though. I love time travel and I loved this one. I can see it being made into a movie. If you are hesitating because it has to do with the assassination of President Kennedy - don't. It is so much more than that. The initial concept is fairly typical - a time gate where you wouldn't expect one. The hero is very human - you can relate to him. He is awed by the initial experience, then determined to embark on his first mission. Keeping in mind the end result pushes him to do what he normally would never do. What happens is not that "fantastic" meaning that you feel as though this is a real person figuring things out. He doesn't have any magic powers. He is just a guy trying to make a difference. And he can dance. That's a plus in my book. It was a page-turner as expected. Even though I suspected that it would be, I was worried about getting it read in the 6 weeks our book club allotted. I read it in 2. Every time I sat down, I dove in. It is a really good book. Yes, there are crazy people and some gruesome murders, but it was really good. And the conclusion was satisfying to me.

Yes, I gave it 5 stars! You can get your copy from Amazon here, or from Barnes & Noble here or at your local library!

 





UNSTOPPABLE by S.R. Johannes

Hooray! Unstoppable is out today!

Unstoppable is the third book in "The Nature of Grace" series. The series has won and been nominated for several awards including: winner of the 2012 IndieReader Discovery Awards (Young Adult), a Silver medalist (2nd place) in the IPPY awards (YA Fiction). She was also nominated for 2012 Georgia Author of the Year (Young Adult category), a Finalist in The Kindle Book Review’s Best Young Adult of 2012, and a YA Finalist in the US Book News Best Book of 2012. 

Kirkus reviewed Untraceable as "A thrilling story is a dramatic entanglement of mystery, deception and teen romance.  The action flows like a brisk mountain stream interspersed with rapids, holding suspense to last page."

If you like a page turner, you will love this series!

Unstoppable - Book 3 Summary

After everything that has happened, Grace moves to the Everglades to live with her grandmother, Birdee, and hang out with old man Rex, Birdee's "friend with benefits". Grace quickly befriends Dylan, Rex's nephew, and Dylan's girlfriend, Sadie, who is a die-hard teen activist. Sadie spends her time leading protests against the roadside zoos that run rampant in Florida with a total disregard for animals or the flimsy law.

One day while out in the marshes of the Everglades, Grace and her friends rescue an abused—and endangered—Florida panther. She and Birdee spend time rehabilitating the animal. But when the panther runs off, Grace follows it to Uncle Bob's, a large roadside zoo they all have been protesting. One that is illegally filled with a variety of endangered and exotic animals. Before she can rescue the panther, she and her friends are kidnapped by the ruthless owner and dragged deep into the Everglades for a hunting challenge. 

Only this time, Grace is the prey. 

During a sick game of cat and mouse, Grace and her friends are offered one chance at survival, but only if they reach civilization before being caught. With a small head start and very little supplies, only time and skill stand between the hunter and the hunted. But out in the Everglades, there may be more dangers than Grace realizes.

Against all odds, Grace must make it out alive and win, or everything she holds dear could be lost.

On Sale Now! 

Unstoppable is on sale in ebook. The paperback releases later this month. 

(Note: if you have another ereader device - see these instructions for getting a Kindle ebook converted to your ereader. It's easier than you think.)

If you haven't read Untraceable or Uncontrollable, you can get them in paperback and ebook at all major booksellers including Amazon, Apple, Smashwords, and B&N.

 

Thrill Seekers Street Team Merchandise!

Recently, Shelli Johannes - author of "Untraceable" and "Uncontrollable" - has made me a member of her street team! Her new book in the series, "Unstoppable" comes out June 3, 2014. Today, in the mail, I received two green bracelets that have the words "Stay Calm and Love Nature" with srjohannes.com on the opposite side; 3 Nature of Grace pens with cardboard barrels instead of plastic; and 5 Breathless series' bookmarks. I plan to share them with my reader friends and quite possibly readers of this blog in an upcoming giveaway! Stay tuned for more info about the launch of "Unstoppable" and a guest post from Shelli Johannes!

Book Review: Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Title: Let the Great World Spin

Author: Colum McCann
Setting: New York City, New York (United States)
Published: November 30, 2009 (first published January 1, 2009)
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Paperback: 375 pages
Literary Awards: International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award (2011), National Book Award for Fiction (2009), Ambassador Book Award for Fiction (2010), NAIBA Book of the Year for Fiction (2010), Goodreads Choice Nominee for Fiction (2009)

from Goodreads:

In the dawning light of a late-summer morning, the people of lower Manhattan stand hushed, staring up in disbelief at the Twin Towers. It is August 1974, and a mysterious tightrope walker is running, dancing, leaping between the towers, suspended a quarter mile above the ground. In the streets below, a slew of ordinary lives become extraordinary in bestselling novelist Colum McCann’s stunningly intricate portrait of a city and its people.



Let the Great World Spin is the critically acclaimed author’s most ambitious novel yet: a dazzlingly rich vision of the pain, loveliness, mystery, and promise of New York City in the 1970s.


Corrigan, a radical young Irish monk, struggles with his own demons as he lives among the prostitutes in the middle of the burning Bronx. A group of mothers gather in a Park Avenue apartment to mourn their sons who died in Vietnam, only to discover just how much divides them even in grief. A young artist finds herself at the scene of a hit-and-run that sends her own life careening sideways. Tillie, a thirty-eight-year-old grandmother, turns tricks alongside her teenage daughter, determined not only to take care of her family but to prove her own worth.Elegantly weaving together these and other seemingly disparate lives, McCann’s powerful allegory comes alive in the unforgettable voices of the city’s people, unexpectedly drawn together by hope, beauty, and the “artistic crime of the century.” A sweeping and radical social novel, Let the Great World Spin captures the spirit of America in a time of transition, extraordinary promise, and, in hindsight, heartbreaking innocence. Hailed as a “fiercely original talent” (San Francisco Chronicle), award-winning novelist McCann has delivered a triumphantly American masterpiece that awakens in us a sense of what the novel can achieve, confront, and even heal.

Alleluialu's Review:

The book opened with a few pages about a tightrope walker walking across a wire between the Twin Towers in New York City. Then Chapter One begins. At first, I thought the whole book was going to be about Corrigan and Ciaran (I didn't read the back cover). As I read the first chapters, I was reminded of the book Frank McCourt wrote about his life, "Angela's Ashes." It was sad but compelling and you knew in the back of your mind that the situation wasn't really going to get any better, but you had to keep reading. That's the way I felt about Corrigan's story - just so sad, but you had to love him and respect him for living his life the way he saw it should be. Then, I got to the next part and realized, "Oh, this isn't going to be just about them..." The stories and how they were interwoven with the tightrope walker in one way or another. There was even a chapter or two about him. Again, the writing got to my soul. I can't explain it any differently. It truly affected me. There is some coarse language, but I think it should be expected in the environment it is spoken. There are also adult situations, but they fit and are very relevant to the overall story. I really liked the book. I didn't give it 5 stars because if it was "amazing," I would have been unable to put it down. I would have stayed awake just to finish a chapter and that didn't happen, although I did look forward to seeing what happened next.

I gave this book 4 stars for the reasons already mentioned above. Get your copy at your local library or here on Amazon.com.