By A.J. Kazinski
I selected this book because I found a number of parallels in the structure to a work I’m currently writing. I was interested to see how the author (in this case, two authors working under a single name) handled the information readers need to know to understand the plot points as well as how that information was spread across multiple characters.
The first 100 pages were strong enough. But the middle part bogged down in elements that were repetative and, frankly, the devices used by the authors were clunky. I kept reading because I wanted to see how they finished the work and how the devices changed throughout. I can’t say I would have kept reading if not for what I might learn about how to handle my own project.
I continued on because this was an “instant” bestseller in the authors’ country and has received some press in the U.S. because of that. I was interested to see why this became a bestseller, and was surprised whenever I found another of those clunky devices, unnecessary repetition, and poorly executed scenes.
Then, the end matter told me what was really up. It seems the authors are both filmmakers in their home country. So the book was a bestseller pretty much because of their fame rather than any quality attributed to the book.
Was the plot interesting enough? Yes. But too many of the other elements associated with the book were poorly excuted to support its success.

Very interesting read. Not sure I liked the jokey portions; they sometimes came off as too flippant. Otherwise a great read about a guy who tosses everything to live in the woods…and yet who can’t find the solitude he craves when others take that as a signal to do the same and move in next to him.
I do like the redemption he achieves with his son at the end. And the fact that he doesn’t give up on his new life…he just moves on. He moves forward, really, and that’s a powerful statement.
4 stars!
If you’re interested in reading a book that can help you examine your life without having to leave everything behind, try Seven Sisters: Spiritual Messages from Aboriginal Australia.

I read this work right after reading the first in this four-book series. That was a mistake. I would have enjoyed this much more if I had taken a break from the series and returned to this after reading other books that don’t deal with this historical event (WWII).
Because I came to it so quickly after the first book, parts of it felt too much like a repeat of events in the first book. I would place that as my fault, not the author’s.
Otherwise, a very enjoyable read. The author could have gone more into the protagonist’s life; the war felt like it was overbalanced in terms of how much time was given to that rather than her journey as a little person. But I stuck with it because I wanted to watch her travel through the parallel journey of being an outsider (as Jews and others were during the war). In the end, I didn’t feel as satisfied as I felt this protagonist deserved. However, the book as a whole is well done and worth the time to read.
3.5 stars.
For more fiction about the impact of historical events on real lives with a protagonist who is an outsider in their own culture, try Message Stick.

Another fantastic read. Introspective through the use of many tiny snapshots of different people in her town. Although told from a girl’s point of view, this has the mature voice of a woman looking back in time.
Come back tomorrow for more on this author and books from this series.
5 stars!

By Tom Phelan. Available Feb 3, 2015
This work is very uneven. The portions that are nearly pure narrative are very well written, interesting, and have a pacing that works well for the storyline and the humor woven throughout. Quite delightful, really, and kept my attention both as a reader interested in the story and as a reviewer considering the quality of the work overall.
However, the dialog did me in. It was overloaded with moments that stretched the humor as well as information that really should have been provided to readers in narrative. I enjoy a more subtle movement through a story, even one with so much humor involved, and didn’t find this a satisfactory read.
I do believe there is an audience for this book, and readers who don’t mind overdone dialog will really thrill to have found this book. But my personal engagement with it left me dissatisfied.

What better gift can you give yourself than diving into a book…or many books…over the holidays? Escape from the crush of details, forget about your family woes. Read about other family woes! Travel the world in your mind! Sample feasts without the calories!
Starting today, you’ll find one book review each day until after New Year’s. I’ll continue posting pubishing insider information, of course, so visit often for the best tips and updates for all things publishing- and writing-related.

This work started out well with the first chapter. It provided an intense moment, showed the characters’ personalities well, and promised much. Then it collapsed. The narrative switched into second person, which is technically very difficult to maintain.
The narrative also became much less compelling. The character’s backstory wasn’t compelling, and the writing wasn’t strong enough to make up for it. It became confusing due to the number of people mentioned; without any direction from the author on where to focus, the novel began to feel like too much work to follow.
I stopped reading before page 30. I do think that for a certain kind of reader, one interested in this historic timeframe (which I am) and who also likes a bit of soap-opera kind of drama (which I don’t), this work could be a great read, so do give it a try.
1 star.

Fram by Steve Himmer
Available January 13, 2015
I received an ARC from the publisher.
A fantastic romp with an ending that couldn’t make sense any other way. Oscar, a bureaucrat made dry and brittle by a life of paperwork and duplicate copies, lives in his imagination. He nurtures a childhood dream of being an arctic explorer, something he vicariously fulfills by working at the U.S. Bureau of Ice Prognostication, an agency created to counter the Soviet’s Cold War threat. The agency never died, nor did Oscar’s dreams.
He spends his days living those dreams by imagining what might be discovered in the Arctic then generating the reams of paperwork to prove that these “discoveries” are real. Towns, schools, mining companies and paper mills, even hot springs are all drawn onto the vast emptiness of the ice. At home, he communes with decades of old National Geographic magazines that trumpeted the original polar explorers’ journeys.
When Oscar is sent on an actual mission to this place he has only ever dreamed about, he becomes entangled in a snarl of espionage and rival agencies. As he digs deeper into the secrets and strangeness, he discovers that the arctic expanse of his marriage has been as important an element in his life as the actual region. At the end, readers will know that there could have been no other resolution to the bizarre journey that is Oscar’s life.