And hand in hand, on the edge of the sand,They danced by the light of the moon. The shifting margin of sea and land, often lit by the moon, held a lure for Edward Lear, a tidal ambivalence. In 1836, when he was twenty-four and about to leave England to become a landscape painter, he […]
Original source: https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2022/09/08/edward-lear-lyrical-coasts/
Sarah Addison Allen is a favorite author whose stories I remember details too, long after the book has been closed. Other Birds is her newest release that takes us to Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina, to the Dellawisp, a sanctuary for birds and lost souls.
Other Birds
by Sarah Addison Allen
Genres: Magical Realism
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate
Rating: 
An enchanting tale filled with magical realism and moments of pure love that won’t let you go.
Between the real and the imaginary, there are stories that take flight in the most extraordinary ways.
Right off the coast of South Carolina, on Mallow Island, The Dellawisp sits—a stunning old cobblestone building shaped like a horseshoe, and named after the tiny turquoise birds who, alongside its human tenants, inhabit an air of magical secrecy.
When Zoey comes to claim her deceased mother’s apartment on an island outside of Charleston she meets her quirky and secretive neighbors, including a girl on the run, two estranged middle-aged sisters, a lonely chef, a legendary writer, and three ghosts. Each with their own story. Each with their own longings. Each whose ending isn’t yet written.
{
“@context”:”https://schema.org”,
“@type”:”Review”,
“datePublished”: “2022-09-08T05:00:00+00:00”,
“description”: “Sarah Addison Allen is a favorite author whose stories I remember details too, long after the book has been closed. Other Birds is her newest release that takes us to Mallow Island off the coast “,
“publisher”: {
“@type”: “Organization”,
“name”: “Caffeinated Reviewer” },
“url”: “https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2022/09/other-birds-by-sarah-addison-allen.html”,
“itemReviewed”: {
“@type”: “Book”,
“name”: “Other Birds”,
“author”: {
“@type”: “Person”,
“name”: “Sarah Addison Allen”,
“sameAs”: “http://www.sarahaddisonallen.com/” },
“isbn”: “” },
“author”: {
“@type”: “Person”,
“name”: “Kimberly”,
“sameAs”: “https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/” },
“reviewRating”: {
“@type”: “Rating”,
“ratingValue”: 5,
“bestRating”: “5”
}
}
I loved the island and the Dellawisp, a horseshoe cobblestone building with a courtyard that’s been converted to condos. It’s tucked away beyond the main streets and provides a sanctuary for tiny turquoise birds who flutter about observing the tenants as they go about their day.
The author introduces us to the island and Dellawisp along with young Zoey. Zoey is a recent high school graduate who is spending the summer in the condo she inherited from her mother. It’s her first time alone, and she wants to reconnect with the memories of her mother, but also experience life at the Dellawisp and is hoping to meet its residence. Like the birds, she is curious, tentative and eager to a part of the community.
Zoey is not traveling alone. Pigeon is with her. Pets aren’t allowed, but no one can see Pigeon. They never have. As Zoey integrates herself into life at the Dellawisp, we meet her neighbors. A chef who wakes up covered in cornmeal each morning, a henna artist running from her past, and two sisters who have not spoken in over twenty-five years.
This was a magical tale, and I loved getting to know each of the characters, including the manager who oversees the Dellawisp. Talk of food, friendships and the return of a resident quickly pulled me in. Together they form a friendship, heal and perhaps find home.
Addison delivers magical realism and complex characters who you cannot help but root for. Even the broken ones will tug at your heartstrings. I wanted to pack my bags and immediately visit this island. I wanted to take the tours, sample the food and meet the residence of the Dellawisp.
I highly recommend Other Birds and all of Allen’s books. They are keepers. If you don’t already do so, I recommend following the author on Facebook. On Sundays, she shares short stories that hook me every time. #SAAShortShortStorySunday
Amazon | Audible
Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen whisks us away to Mallow Island off the coast of South Carolina, to the Dellawisp, a sanctuary for birds and lost souls. #NewRelease #bookreview #MagicalRealism #AutoBuy
Click To Tweet
New York Times Bestselling novelist Sarah Addison Allen brings the full flavor of her southern upbringing to bear on her fiction — a captivating blend of magical realism, heartwarming romance, and small-town sensibility. Her big break occurred in 2007 with the publication of her first mainstream novel, Garden Spells, a modern-day fairy tale about an enchanted apple tree and the family of North Carolina women who tend it. Booklist called Allen’s accomplished debut “spellbindingly charming.” The novel became a Barnes & Noble Recommends selection, and then a New York Times Bestseller. Allen continues to serve heaping helpings of the fantastic and the familiar in fiction she describes as “Southern-fried magic realism.” Clearly, it’s a recipe readers are happy to eat up as fast as she can dish it out.
Never miss a post by adding Caffeinated to your Inbox
Source
Original source: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2022/09/other-birds-by-sarah-addison-allen.html
Honor in Concord is an exciting mix of memoir and historical fiction revolving around your life and memories in Concord, Massachusetts. What was the idea, or spark, that first set off the need to write this book?
In the memoir portion of Honor in Concord I talk about the connection I have always felt to Concord, MA and how I began writing this book soon after moving here the first time, when I set out to record the images of Concord’s past that were always on my mind. What I neglected to mention until the introduction in the 2022 E-Book edition is that the flurry of images that I was receiving then were coming to me in response to a plea I had made to God and my guides to send me a story to write that was uplifting and life-affirming because the novel I had just finished writing was anything but that. Soon after I made my plea, I began receiving those images, like Henry David Thoreau pausing to talk to a young boy about a bird, while walking over to see his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson; or the breakfast scene at the Emerson’s home when young Edith tells her parents she has seen the spirit of her brother, Wallie in the garden. They were brief glimpses into the lives of the authors who lived in mid-19th century Concord, and they became the short vignettes that appear throughoutthe book. In the fictional story, Nathaniel Hawthorne is back but he isn’t Hawthorne anymore, now he is Richard Hazzard. His wife, Sophia is now his wife, Julie and Thoreau is his son, Alex. It all came together easily, magically, and at the same time I was writing the fictional story I was telling my own story in the memoir. I was a writer coming to terms with my psychic ability and trying to figure out why it was that I had been drawn to this sleepy old town. I wanted to be free of it, to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it, but I didn’t understand then the importance of the path I was on.
What is one thing that people point out after reading your book that surprises you?
Well, there isn’t one specific thing that readers have said that surprised me. What surprises me is just how enthusiastic and over the top their reactions have been to it. One person told me she regularly reads all the bestsellers, but she enjoyed Honor in Concord more than any of them. Another called me her favorite author ever. I am always taken aback by that kind of praise, but I think that has more to do with the message of the book and how it makes people feel than it does with me or the way I write. Many people seem to come away from Honor in Concord feeling better about themselves and their own lives. In this world where values are constantly being challenged, in Honor in Concord I am giving a nod to that sector that I believe is the majority who do understand that there is a higher power and a purpose to our lives and who strive every day to live their lives with principle and honor.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
Initially, I wanted to capture the magic of Concord’s literary past but, as the story developed, I began to realize that the book wasn’t just about sharing that special feeling that visitors to Concord experience when they walk through the old homes and hear about the lives of the writers who once lived here. The characters in Honor in Concord who represent those writers from the past would still be struggling with some of the same issues they had faced in their past lives. So the theme explored first is reincarnation, what might we experience if we had lived before, and then love, trust, freedom, devotion and honor, along with feminism that comes up in both the fictional story and the memoir. The honor in Honor in Concord is about honoring ourselves, who we are, what we value, how we choose to live our lives, the commitments we make. It is about learning to trust the inner guidance that is available to all of us and to conduct ourselves accordingly. By doing that we honor ourselves. It is an ideal that is based on the transcendental philosophy followed by most of the Concord writers. Ed, who represents Bronson Alcott in the fictional story, longs to tell everyone, “We are all, each one of us, infinite.” I believe he is right. We are spiritual, not physical beings. We have all lived before and we will live on after this life, and who we are now and how we treat ourselves and each other while we’re here matters.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
The book I wrote and published after Honor in Concord is called The Thoreau Whisperer and it is currently available from all the usual internet booksellers. It is a sequel to the memoir portion of Honor in Concord, as it picks up my story 6 years later. I am still a reluctant psychic but following a visit from my mentor, who was an eminent Thoreau scholar, eleven days after his death, I realize the time has come for me to accept my gifts, hone my psychic abilities, and prepare for what was to be a remarkable collaboration that allowed Thoreau’s words to be heard once again in our time. As fantastic as it may seem, The Thoreau Whisperer is a true story.
Currently, I am at work on a novel, a spiritual love story, that is set in the seaside town of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Author Links: GoodReads | Twitter | LinkedIn | Website
Honor in Concord is set at all the historic locations in Concord, including The Old Manse, The Emerson’s Home, Orchard House, The Wayside and Walden Pond and there are short vignettes throughout the story that open up like windows into Concord’s literary past. One moment we see Julie watching her young daughter performing at her dance recital and the next we see her as Sophia Hawthorne walking in the yard of the Wayside as her children run about in play and her husband, Nathaniel looks on. One moment we see Sarah having a flirtatious lunch with Richard at the West Street Grill in Boston, the place where the Hawthornes once wed, and then we see Sarah walking across the same floor where she had stood as Margaret Fuller conducting her “conversations” about the conditions faced by the women of her day.
Richard and Julie Hazzard are happily married but one day Richard wakes up feeling bored. On the train into Boston, he meets Sarah and what begins as an innocent flirtation soon becomes the catalyst that prompts Richard’s self-reflection. Will he risk losing all that he has to break the monotony of his life and satisfy his desire for Sarah? Not if his friend, Ed, has anything to say about it. Ed lives a life of honor and Richard admires that, but he doesn’t believe he can live up to the code that Ed lives by. Julie is an artist who has set her art aside and devoted herself fully to Richard and their children. Now she wonders if in doing so a part of herself has been lost. She envies her friend, Emma, who in her past life as schoolteacher, Martha Hunt chose to drown herself in the river in Concord rather than live her life in the way Julie does now.
The themes of love, trust, freedom, devotion, history, ghosts and reincarnation are there in the memoir as well, as McIntyre also struggles with her desire for freedom and her inability to trust her instincts that have led her to Concord and to a destiny that hadn’t yet been fully revealed.
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/08/cathryn-mcintyre-author-interview/
JadeAnne’s visit to Mexico was supposed to be a brief and snappy one; investigate the disappearance of her client’s wife, find her, and spend a month of summer in the city right after. But fate had different plans in store for her. Not only is her client’s wife dead, she’s now caught up in a tussle between the Mexican government and two notorious organized crime rings. Now her summer is taking a massive turn and in the weeks that follow, she’ll experience love, fear, discovery, hatred, anxiety and betrayal.
Nothing Comes After Z is a riveting crime thriller with a strong female protagonist that is fun to follow. JadeAnne is an investigator from California, and even though this is the third book in a series I feel that her personality is well established in this novel so that readers will still feel a connection to her. She was hired to uncover the case of a missing person in Mexico. On her mission, her path crossed with an organized gang and a trafficking ring. I appreciated the grounded nature of the crime and how it relates to some headlines we see in the news today. After being betrayed by her partner on the case, she will go through a torrent of events. Before she can safely leave Mexico and return to her life, she has to uncover some hard truths and catch the perpetrators. Author Ana Manwaring knows how to create a storyline that easily sets up the hard-hitting action.
The author gives readers a vivid explanations of all the action taking place in this book. Scenes were described so well that readers will not be lost when the fighting and action begins. While I appreciated the plethora of detail I sometimes felt that it slowed the book down in certain moments as I felt some scenes were overly detailed. But readers who enjoy a well constructed world that is fully realized will certainly appreciate the picturesque scenes that are created in this book.
Even though this is a thrilling action adventure novel readers can still feel every emotion JadeAnne goes through. Her pain, disgust, horror, anger, love, hopelessness as well as fear. I enjoyed how well the emotion is weaved into this action novel because it ensure we’re invested in the protagonist and we’re biting our nails when the action intensifies.
Nothing Comes After Z pits its compelling female protagonist against some seriously dangerous people in the midst of an exotic location where action seems to be around every corner. Suspense and crime fiction lovers will find this book a must read.
Pages: 358 | ASIN: B09L6R9WLS
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/08/nothing-comes-after-z/
Janey has been a little stubborn lately, always wanting things done her way. After spending some time out in the garden with the class, and bossing her friends around, she finds herself all alone because no one wants to work with her. Will Janey find a way to work with others?
Just Janey’s Way shows how children that are stubborn may seem like bullies, but they are really just afraid and having control makes them feel safe. Once this issue is out in the open this book does a fantastic job of showing kids how to handle the situation. Opening up and talking about things is a critical step for Janey, and helps her reconnect with her friends. I thought this was a great lesson to teach to young children, because a lot of times children bottle up their emotions, and this book shows them that it’s okay to let others know your worries.
There is a wonderfully diverse cast of characters in this book that carry over from book one. I was also happy to see that Ben’s Fidget ball makes another appearance as this establishes a character trait throughout the series and also shows readers that people deal with their emotions in different ways. I think that this is really what this book, and book one in the Janey Series, was about; handling emotions.
Yet another fantastic and educational entry in The Janey Series. This is a vibrant picture book that is sure to keep kids engaged while teaching them a valuable life lesson. I highly recommend this children’s book. It would be great for gifting and is an exceptional kids book to add to any young child’s library.
Pages: 30 | ISBN: 1922670553
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/08/just-janeys-way/
Ever since Winston was a baby he’s suffered from significant flatulence. When he started school his flatulence, also known as ‘fluffer doodles’ or a ‘bottom burp’, were just as powerful and were making Winston feel embarrassed. One day he was walking home from school and saw a girl stuck in a hole in the ground. He jumped in without thinking and his bas blasted them back out of the hole. Winston realized he had an ability that no one else had and decided to use it to save others.
Winston’s Big Wind is a hilarious children’s book that takes something that everyone does and gives it a fun superhero twist. I loved all the different euphemism’s that were used for Winston’s explosive gas. I laughed every time. The charming sketch art that is on every other page pairs well with the story and brings a welcoming charm to the book.
I thought this was going to be a story about how to deal with flatulence, but I was delighted to find out that this story is much more than that. This comical book sets up Winston as an amiable child and an unlikely hero. I heartily enjoyed the hero origin story trope at work in this amusing children’s book.
Winston’s Big Wind is a lively picture book that will have kids laughing at the different ways to say flatulence. This book is just pure fun all around. Author Barbara Reyelts has created a great book for elementary children that are developing their reading skills as it is one story they will certainly be begging to read.
Pages: 35 | ISBN: 1639884823
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/08/winstons-big-wind/
Requiem for Miriam is a chilling paranormal crime thriller that keeps the reader on the edge of their seat at every harrowing twist and turn. Fast-paced and immersive, this book will have you hooked from the very first page and leave you haunted in the best way possible. Set in New York City during the 1980’s, the book follows a couple who is part of the richest, most successful, and elite circles of New York. For anyone looking in from the outside, the couple seems to have it all; but in reality, that is certainly not the case. Their thirty-three-year-old marriage is hardly ideal; Sidney Friedlander, Miriam’s husband, has serious anger issues and constantly has affairs with younger women. As a result of a horrific series of events, Sidney murders his wife. With her last breath, Miriam curses Sidney and promises to haunt him for life. We follow Maria Rodriguez, a young detective in the NYPD, as she tracks down Sidney to seek justice for Miriam’s ghastly murder. She is helped by Miriam’s ghost and Raphaella, a Haitian psychic.
Len Handeland has written this supernatural thriller in very easy-to-understand language which draws the reader in and keeps them immersed in the eerie plot. He also breaks up the creepy events with bits of humor and keeps the mood light. Furthermore, the intriguing characters we meet in the book are diverse and well-rounded. It’s easy to understand the characters and their motives and the reader soon starts empathizing with them. I especially loved the great representation in the book. Maria, my favorite character, is a strong, confident Puerto Rican woman in the police force. She has to constantly fight to prove herself capable and themes of racism and misogyny underlie her interactions with her fellow officers. The LGBTQ+ community also finds representation in this riveting thriller which was a pleasant surprise.
Requiem for Miriam is an engrossing and suspenseful supernatural mystery novel. I would definitely recommend this haunting novel to readers who enjoy the paranormal genre, or anyone looking for an eerie mystery. It will give you chills, make you laugh, and keep you guessing until the last page.
Pages: 340 | ASIN: B0B25PHZB4
Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2022/09/08/requiem-for-miriam/