Author Archives: Melissa Beck

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About Melissa Beck

My reading choices are rather eclectic. I enjoy reading a wide range of books especially classics, literature in translation, history, philosophy, travel writing and poetry. I especially like to support small, literary presses.
November 4, 2014 · 12:00 am

Review and Giveaway: Certainty by Victor Bevine

Today I welcome TLC Book Tours back to The Book Binder’s Daughter with an historical fiction novel entitled Certainty.  I invite you to read my review, learn more about the author, enter to win your own copy, and visit the other stops on the tour.

My Review:

ICertainty_A-Novel_Victor-Bevine_96dpi-677x1024-198x300n honor of the centennial anniversary of World War I, I have reviewed quite a few books set during The Great War.  I have learned so much from all of the historical novels I have read about World War I, and Victor Bevine’s novel set in Newport, Rhode Island is no exception.

This story is based on real events that happened in Newport just after the war.  The navy has twenty five thousand sailors stationed at the Naval base in Rhode Island and now that the war is over the idle soldiers are looking for entertainment that includes drinking, parties and women.  Captain Arnold, one of the commanding officers, has decided to recruit some of his sailors for a secret mission that includes trapping and arresting men who are homosexual.

The references to homosexuals as “fairies” throughout the book is disturbing but also drives home the point that the navy was rabidly homophobic during this time period. Arnold and his group of recruits launch a campaign to gain the trust of gay men, catch them in sexuals act and then arrest them.  During the roundup and arrest of these gay sailors, a popular priest is also arrested and falsely charged with carrying out lewd acts. One lawyer in this small town bravely steps up, risking his family, career and reputation, to defend the kind priest. Continue reading →

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November 3, 2014 · 12:00 am

Review and Giveaway: The Dunning Man by Kevin Fortuna

Today I welcome back TLC Book Tours to The Book Binder’s Daughter with a collection of short stories entitled “The Dunning Man.” I invite you to read my review, learn a bit about the author and enter to win your own copy of the book (US/Can).

My Review:

The Dunning ManThe stories in this collection all feature men and women who are stuck in unhappy lives and are just trying to do the best they can to live day to day and survive a rather miserable existence.  Self-medication with various substances, especially alcohol, is the way in which the characters in these stories manage to muddle through their sad lives.

In the story entitled “Dead”, a man is desperately trying to catch a bus and then a train to meet his girlfriend in Atlantic City for a romantic evening.  He has recently lost his job so money is tight, but he has just enough to treat her to a nice weekend.  While on the train ride to meet her he takes several different kinds of drugs to give him some confidence and then to calm him down.  Then he gets a text from this girl saying she can’t make it at the last minute. Continue reading →

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November 2, 2014 · 9:36 am

Q&A with Dan Berne, author of The Gods of Second Chances

 

I recently had the opportunity to read and review Dan Berne’s book The Gods of Second Chances.  Dan has graciously agreed to do a Q&A with me about his book.  Thanks so much to Dan for his thoughtful answers.  I also invite you to read a synopsis and my review of his book, which I highly recommend you put on your TBR pile.

Q&A with Dan Berne:

Author Dan Berne

Author Dan Berne

1. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you became a writer?

I’ve written stories since I was ten years old. I was the introvert in a family of seven kids in a relatively small house (our shared bedroom was wall –bed – bed – bed – wall). Reading books was my escape. In college and beyond, I focused on poetry, but turned to fiction and novel writing when I was forty. In poetry, every word and line break has to mean something, and you have a few lines to evoke a response from the reader. In the novel form, I loved being able to work with the arc of the story and the unfolding of characters.

2. What, in particular, drew you to Alaska and made you decide to use that setting for the book?

I had been up to Alaska kayaking and hiking. I knew that I wanted my protagonist to be a working class guy, and I was drawn to the life that I saw up there. The landscape is so compelling and really is almost a character in itself. Continue reading →

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November 1, 2014 · 12:00 am

Indie and Small Press Author Blog Hop: Sign-Up Post

Blog Hop 5

 

Indie and Small Press Author Blog Hop Sign-up Post:
I am very excited to be teaming up with one of my favorite Indie authors, Harry Patz to bring you this blog hop. This particular blog hop is meant to help Indie and Small Press authors gain some attention for their books, past or present. Anyone who is self-published or published through a small press is welcome to participate. We also welcome bloggers who want to give some attention to their favorite Indie or small press authors.open_book_01

 

What is a blog hop and How Do I Participate?
A blog hop is a group of authors or bloggers who all do a giveaway on the same dates and readers can hop from site to site and enter lots of giveaways at once. You can sign up at on the linky at the bottom of this post by adding the link to your blog or website. On the dates of the blog hop please post the blog hop image, a description of your book or what you are giving away and an explanation of how readers can enter your giveaway. Click here for an example of what a blog hop post looks like.

Hop Rules:
Rules• You can give away a copy or copies (as many as you like) of your book or books in any format, book swag, or gift cards.
• Your giveaway should include the hop image & linky (or links to the host’s sites if you can’t get the linky to work).
• Please only 1 mandatory entry and no more than 6 total entries.
• Your post should be live by 9:01 A.M. EST on (date)
• Please no erotica, extreme horror or 18+ sites.
• We ask that once your giveaway is live AND accepting entries that you send us a direct link via email (magistrabeck@outlook.com) so we can update the linky.
• Please be sure to pick a winner on December 13th when the giveaway has ended and mail the prize to your winner.
• Please check the linky on December 5th to be sure you are still on the linky and that your link is accurate.
• We reserve the right to delete any blog from the linky that is inappropriate or does not follow the hop rules.

Sign Up:pen-hi

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

And to thank all of the authors and bloggers that have signed up to participate, your name will automatically be entered into a drawing to win a $50 Amazon gift card.  Thanks so much for your participation!

-Harry and Melissa

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October 30, 2014 · 11:23 am

Review and Giveaway: A Sudden Light by Garth Stein

I received an Advanced Review copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.  I invite you to read my review, watch the book trailer and win your own SIGNED hardcopy of the book (US/Canada).

My Review:

A Sudden LightThe first thing that struck me about A SUDDEN LIGHT is the rich and flowing prose that immediately sweeps the reader into the story.  It begins on a very philosophical note that reminds me of a common theme in Greek mythology: a curse.  When something of beauty is destroyed, the ancestors of the destroyer are cursed and pass on this curse until someone, somewhere along the family line is able to make amends.  The universe must be paid back in order for the curse to be broken.

Trevor is a 14 year old boy who had a happy and normal life with his parents growing up in Connecticut.  But any contentment he has experienced in his life is broken when his parents decide to separate.  Due to his dad’s poor financial planning, his family has also gone bankrupt and they have lost their house in Connecticut.  Trevor’s mother takes off for England to stay with her parents and Trevor travels with his father to visit his father’s family in Seattle.  It is strange and alarming that Trevor has never met his paternal grandfather or his Aunt Selena. Continue reading →

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