Buy this Star Wars Book in paper or elec­tronic copy* Andrew: Orig­i­nally pub­lished at: http://www.rancorslovetoread.com/2008/12/andrews-review-of-courtship-of-princess.html 3/5 Rancors – Dave Wolverton’s The Courtship of Princess Leiawas one of the first books published by Bantam Spectra after the resounding success of Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy in the early 1990’s. As such, it has the exciting, adventurous, and sometimes plain wacky feeling that a lot of the early books had (especially before the advent of the prequel films and the onslaught of stories about Jedi, Sith, and clone troopers). It is an enjoyable romp of a story with some very puzzling characterizations. The setting is four years after the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi. Princess Leia and Han Solo have been involved over this period but are still not in a fully committed relationship. Han has spent the prior five months commanding a task force hunting Warlord Zsinj and his Super Star Destroyer Iron Fist: the tale of his search is ably documented by Aaron Allston in the fifth through seventh novels of the superb X-wing series. Leia has been attempting to kickstart diplomatic relations between the New Republic and the secretive Hapan Cluster, an alliance of sixty-three wealthy and…

I’m not much of a science fiction reader, I used to love the genre, and maybe will again. As a former fan I still do appreciate the genre and when I saw these books, available for this week only for $2.99 I thought others would like to know about them. These title range from hard core sci-fi, to magic to urban fantasy. At the time of this post, the books below were free or $2.99 — please check before downloading. Nightshifted (An Edie Spence Novel) by Cassie Alexander From debut author Cassie Alexander comes a spectacular new urban fantasy series where working the nightshift can be a real nightmare. Nothing compares to being Nightshifted. Nursing school prepared Edie Spence for a lot of things. Burn victims? No problem. Severed limbs? Piece of cake. Vampires? No way in hell. But as the newest nurse on Y4, the secret ward hidden in the bowels of County Hospital, Edie has her hands full with every paranormal patient you can imagine—from vamps and were-things to zombies and beyond… Edie’s just trying to learn the ropes so she can get through her latest shift unscathed. But when a vampire servant turns to dust under her…

Colin Thiele, born today 16 November, 1920 (d: 4 September 2006) was an Australian award winning author and educator who published over 100 books.

Pages: 464 Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc. Language: English ISBN-10: 1402210876 ISBN-13: 9781402210877 My rating: 3.5 stars Buy this book in paper or electronic format Synopsis: Qanta Ahmed, a British-born Muslim doctor, is denied a work visa in the United States. She opts to travel to Saudi Arabia where she works in a hospital in Riyadh. Although she was raised as a Muslim, and is familiar with the teachings of Islam, nothing prepares her for the culture shock she experiences in a country under Sharia Law. The first chapter grabbed my attention immediately as it described a Muslim Bedouin woman lying on an operating table. The woman is in a coma and connected to a respirator. Although the woman is naked, her face is covered by a veil. Doctor Ahmed finds it a striking clash between technology and religion. Meanwhile, the woman’s son is pacing with worry and anxiety over her veil remaining in place. So begins the contrasts and conflicts that Dr. Qanta Ahmed encounters during her years in Saudi Arabia. In this compelling narration, Dr. Ahmed lifts the veil of the upper-class Saudi women and exposes their culture and religion to the Western eye. The story is set during the…

Book review by Ren Zelen Buy this book in paper or electronic format Amazon is trying its hand at the movie business. Two-year-old Amazon Studios has optioned its first horror movie, buying the film rights to an e-book, the Southern gothic thriller, “Seed,” by Ania Ahlborn. Released in 2011 as a self-published title, “Seed” reached the top of Amazon’s bestselling horror list by ‘nothing more than word-of-mouth’, according to Amazon spokespersons. The horror novel was re-released in 2012 after Ahlborn restructured particular plot points with the help of input from fans and added another 6,000 words to the manuscript. The news of Amazon buying the film rights broke as, coincidentally, I was about halfway through reading the e-book. I can understand why Amazon decided to pick-up this particular story. It lends itself to the visual image, exuding a seedy, oppressive, Southern Gothic ambience, and offering an ideal opportunity to create a particular nasty and memorable demonic entity and a possessed child. Ahlborn has a kind of proto-Stephen-King, descriptive writing style (and we all know how often that has attracted movie-makers, though with mixed results). I consider King to be a master storyteller, a deft spinner of compelling yarns, and like…

I really enjoy biblical fiction, especially about the Jewish bible. I think the stories are great, interesting and, I hear, even teach a lesson or two. Most of the biblical fiction books I read were pretty good, some took many liberties, others didn’t but I have to say I enjoyed most of them (it is unfortunate that most of the ones I enjoyed were never translated into English). Many people miss the point of the bible, in my opinion – they either view it as literal history (which is a recent phenomena of about 100 years or so), or as a comic-book type superhero drama, or both. That is too bad since these wonderful stories are the base of which we built our society on (whether you believe them or not doesn’t matter), however over the centuries they have been bastardized to support one agenda or another, when actually they support none. At the time of this post, the books below were free or $0.99 – please check before downloading. Authors: If you’d like your book to be fea­tured on Tight­wad Tues­days please email me. In the Beginning (Holey Hullabaloo) by Michael Goldsberry A humorous retelling of Genesis from Eve’s pole dancing to…

I was intensely interested in English and world literature throughout high school and college. I devoured every classic and newly published novel that I could get my hands on—from Chaucer to Chabon, Rumi to Rushdie. And during that entire time—what I now consider to be my peak reading period—I somehow managed to forgo reading Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s infamous novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Sure, I knew that it existed, but there were always other books to conquer. I kept sidelining the tome for other works, until I forgot about it entirely. Buy this book in paper from Amazon.com Years passed before a close friend of mine called me up to tell me of a great book he just read, one that he insisted that I read immediately. Of course the book was One Hundred Years of Solitude; the classic had finally caught up with me. I finished the novel only a few days ago, and I have more than a few things to say about it. Brass tacks plot overview For those of you who haven’t read One Hundred Years of Solitude, here’s a (spoiler free) summary. The entirety of the novel takes place in a town called Macondo in Columbia, a city established by Jose ArcadioBuendia, his wife Ursula, and…

Article first published as Book Review: Heads in Beds by Jacob Tomsky on Blogcritics. About: Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky tells about the author’s decades of experience within the hospitality industry. Mr. Tomsky has started working in hotels as a valet, got promoted to management and worked in many other roles within the industry. The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy to two (2) winners of this book— use the Raf­fle­copter form at the end of the post to enter. 256 pages Publisher: Doubleday (November 20, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0385535635 My rating for Heads in Beds – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format Thoughts: Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality by Jacob Tomsky (website | @benthebellman) is a perfect book for the traveler, a look into what people in all levels in hotels go through to make your stay smooth and how you can make it smoother. The book is a quick read, funny and sometimes offensive (in a good way). Mr. Tomsky started out his career inNew Orleans, but is now living for a long time inNew York City. The writing reflects East Coast humor, jesting which in other parts of the…

Vernon Lee (17 August, 1856 –1935) was a British writer of supernatural fiction. Ms. Lee was also a prolific essayist who wrote on art, music, and travel. 1 ) Vernon Lee is actually a p[pseudonym, the writer’s real name is Violet Paget. 2 ) One of her childhood friends was artist John Singer Sargent (who painted the portrait above). 3 ) Even though the author mainly wrote in English, she spent the majority of her life in Italy. 4 ) Ms. Lee was an early feminist and dressed like a man. 5 ) She was a lesbian and had long, passionate relationship with two women. 6 ) During her life, Lee was considered an authority on Italian Renaissance and wrote two works on the subject. 7 ) When writing travel essays, Lee tried to capture the psychological effects of places rather than conveying information. 8 ) Another favorite topic for Vernon Lee was the relationship between authors and readers. 9 ) She also pioneered the idea of critically assessing art in relation to the audience’s personal response. 10) After her death, Lee’s library was left to the British Institute of Florence and can still be visited today. Zohar – Man…

Even though there has been criticism of Dr. Aldrin’s behavior in the past there is not a single person in the astronaut corps who has done more to promote space