Indianapolis, IN (PRWEB) September 15, 2010
Don?t know what to give someone this holiday season? Here?s a list of great books for those on your gift list:
Soap opera lovers
Norman is a teddy bear of a man with a zany sense of humor, but the heartless Bobbie rejects him to marry the handsome, urbane Philip ? who turns out to be a (gasp!) womanizer! Is it coincidence or mere irony that Philip and one of his many girlfriends are later murdered by the woman?s estranged husband? Bobbie, compelled (of course) by a deathbed promise, adopts Philip?s orphaned baby. But then, the nanny abducts the child! However, the ever-faithful Norman returns to offer a distraught Bobbie his emotional support. Will the child be found? Can Bobbie and Norman rediscover their love? Find out in “Educated Heart” by Janet Logan. http://www.janetloganbooks.com
Sci-fi fans
The radio arrests Kit?s attention: The world is being reduced to ashes. In the next 100 days, almost all life will disappear from Earth. Who could cause such evil? And how? Answers come too soon for three survivors when greed and brutality disrupt the fragile peace they?ve established. Audrey Peyton?s “Ashes” will grip you until the stunning end. http://www.audreypeyton.com
Dad, Grandpa and Uncle Ron
The Civil War split more than the country. In “The Parting: A Story of West Point on the Eve of the Civil War,” author Richard Barlow Adams tells a heartbreaking tale of friends who begin as romantic-minded young cadets and face the onslaught of love, war, loss and redemption. http://www.richardbarlowadams.com
COPS and courtroom drama viewers
Julie checked into a seedy motel with her boyfriend. In the early morning hours, a loud fight resulted in the boyfriend fleeing and a naked Julie screaming for help along a major Colorado boulevard. A 9-1-1 call brought 12 officers ? and within eight minutes of their arrival, Julie was dead, coated in so much of the officers? pepper spray that paramedics couldn?t see to put a breathing tube down her throat, her sister says. That sister, Cynthia M. Andersen, tells the story that didn?t get told of this needless death in “Untangle the Knots Within.”
Young adults
How often does society only half listen to young adults? Latana (no last name) explores this idea in “Barely Exposed,” photographs of and quotes by 60 ethnically and geographically diverse 17- to 21-year-olds. ?I did not want them to hide behind their clothing,? says Latana. ?It was important for me to capture the vulnerability in their faces. Half-dressed, they were all the same: half child, half adult, and yet completely different individuals.? (There is no nudity.) The young people also share how they see the world, such as Hagar from Cairo, Egypt: ?We teenagers are at a very critical age. Adults will have to understand us in order not to lose us.? http://www.latanastudio.com
Families that read together
The man behind Dove?s ?Real Beauty? campaign and the Dove ?Evolution? video (showing what a model goes through to become billboard-worthy) has written “The Legend of Vysallimore,” a retelling of an epic battle from the Middle Ages during a solar eclipse ? a battle many believe actually took place. Mike Hemingway says all his work is about inclusion and generosity. In this story that has been passed down for generations, a family of knights and a brave innkeeper fight the evil Graf Vogor and Satan himself to save a silent maiden. (P.S. Hemingway?s second-oldest son, Toby Hemingway, is an actor and is rumored to be dating Taylor Swift.)
Mythologists
Whatever happened to Polyxena, Achilles? love, after his death? Author Herb Adlinger (aka Herb Allenger) lets us hear her thoughts in “Polyxena: A Story of Troy.” Once Troy falls, Neoptolemus claims this youngest daughter of Priam and Hecuba as his prize, but she rejects him; in a fit of rage, he contrives a story that dooms her. As she prepares to die, Polyxena relates her thoughts about her remarkable life to the goddess Aphrodite. The reader is also privy to Polyxena?s conversations with Achilles, Agamemnon, Cassandra, Helen and many others as she seeks solace in the hope that her existence was not futile. http://www.hallenger.com
Dieters who don?t like to diet (and anyone who likes good food)
After her twins were born, Mandy Potter went on a quest to cook the dishes she had loved as a child with the same great taste, yet with far fewer calories and grams of fat, sugar, cholesterol and sodium. Her success has led to kids who will eat cooked carrots and broccoli, and her own weight loss of 85 pounds without dieting! She’s now sharing her recipes in the new “Cooking with Healthy Girl: Everyday Recipes Made Healthy,” 239 pages of recipes, staples available in any grocery store and a four-week menu. http://www.cookingwithhealthygirl.com
Just for kids (and mom-approved)
The 9-13 crowd will love reading about how kids their age stumble onto clues that lead them to a startling discovery: Talking animals once had a secret pact with firefighters to help stop fires, but the pact and the animals have been forgotten. Can the kids find these special creatures and befriend them? Can they revive the pact before a wildfire traps them in the forest? “Fire Station Buddies ? The Pact” by Karen McHale is part of an online program that lets kids join a virtual fire station and train to be a ?Fire Buddy.? Younger kids can ?read along? with their very own stuffed Fire Buddy and picture book. http://www.firestationbuddies.com
All books are available at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com (except Fire Station Buddies).
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