Spring Fling Giveaway Hop

As a part of the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop, I'm holding a giveaway for your choice of one of the following books:


The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman is a short story collection of Afghanistan folk lore. You can read my review.

This extraordinary book, derived from the long oral tradition of storytelling in Afghanistan, presents a mesmerizing portrait of a people who triumph with intelligence and humor over the oppression of political dictators and an unforgiving landscape. The Honey Thief reveals an Afghanistan of greater richness and humanity than is conveyed in newspaper headlines.


The Homicide Hustle by Ella Barrick is a cozy mystery novel. You can read my review. (This novel has a fair amount of bad language.)

The traveling TV dance show, Ballroom with the B-Listers, is coming to Washington, D.C., and ballroom dancer Stacy Graysin is first in line to participate. The whirlwind reality contest stumbles when the show’s coproducer, Tessa King, is found dead in the Potomac River. All the clues point to Tessa being murdered--and the suspects are the contestants and crew of B-Listers. Now the B-Listers must promenade back to fame, and Stacy will need to hustle to maintain her reputation, win the competition, and catch a killer.


Targets of Revengeby Jeffrey S. Stephens is a thriller novel. You can read my review. (This novel has a fair amount of bad language.)

Orders from his boss forbidding any action won't stop CIA Agent Jordan Sandor when he’s determined to assassinate Adina. He crash-lands in the Venezuelan jungle and infiltrates Adina’s camp. He discovers that the ruthless terrorist is smuggling a deadly substance into the United States that could cost tens of thousands of lives. Sandor follows his information to Egypt and then Moscow as he fights to prevent this disaster.


This contest is for USA residents only.


To enter the giveaway:

1) You can leave a comment to this post asking to be entered and naming which book you'd like to win. (I have comment moderation on to prevent spam comments, so don't worry if your entry comment doesn't appear immediately. It will soon.) Please also leave some way for me to contact you--or follow this blog so you can see the winner announcement.

OR

2) you can twitter me saying "Hi @genrereviewer. Enter me in the giveaway for [give the book name and author's name]."


This giveaway ends on May 7, 2013 at midnight. The winner will be randomly selected. I'll announce the winner on May 8, 2013 on this blog.

If you entered using twitter, I'll send you a @ or DM telling you of your win and asking where to send the book. If you entered using the blog comments, you'll need to leave your e-mail address or check back to see if you won so you can e-mail me your mailing address. If the winner hasn't responded with a mailing address within four days, I reserve the right to pick a new winner.

I hope everyone has fun with this!


The blogs participating in the Spring Fling Giveaway Hop:

Targets of Revenge by Jeffrey S. Stephens

Targets of Revenge by Jeffrey S. Stephens ISBN-13: 978-1451688726 Hardcover: 448 pages Publisher: Gallery Books Released: February 19, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Orders from his boss forbidding any action won't stop CIA Agent Jordan Sandor when he’s hungry for revenge. He’s determined to assassinate Adina, the man responsible for planning a terrorist attack on America that left several dead in the effort to stop it.

Asking his friends to help him carry out his forbidden operation, he crash-lands in the heart of the Venezuelan jungle and infiltrates Adina’s camp. He discovers that the ruthless terrorist is smuggling a deadly substance into the United States that could cost tens of thousands of lives. Sandor follows his information to Egypt and then Moscow as he fights to prevent this disaster.


My Review:
Targets of Revenge is a thriller novel. It was the third book in a series. I didn't need to read the previous books to follow this one, though I suspect I would have gotten more out of this book if I had. Also, much of the action in the previous books was spoiled in this one, so you may wish to read them in order.

The author did a good job of writing exciting, action-packed fights where it was easy to follow what was going on. Sandor was more a military rambo than sneaky spy. He got his information by holding a gun to people's heads. He was reckless, impulsive, and didn't follow orders (even those he gave) well. He always had to be in control of operations even if he technically shouldn't be giving orders or even involved. Even when Sandor acted as a spy, he didn't try hard to be believable so his enemies weren't fooled by his cover story. He always ended up having to fight his way out of danger.

I found that I didn't really care about the characters (except Romero, a minor character) because I knew nothing about them. Sandor's best friends existed merely to play backup to his plans. We're told nothing about Sandor's past or present beyond the current actions that he takes. We don't get inside his head to feel fear or anger--we can only tell his emotions by his words or actions (which never act afraid, so why should I be worried for him?). He seems to exist purely to run recklessly through the pages leaving dead behind him. He never paused to reflect, "Hey, there might be a better way to do things where fewer people end up dead."

There were no graphic sex scenes, but there was a little more description than kiss-and-fade-to-back in one case. There was a fair amount of explicit bad language, including in several languages beyond English. I'd recommend this novel to those who like independent, impulsive heroes who leave a high body count behind them, though I'd suggest starting at the beginning of this series.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Honey Thief by Afghani Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman

The Honey Thief by Najaf Mazari, Robert Hillman ISBN-13: 9780670026487 Hardcover: 304 pages Publisher: Viking Adult Released: April 18, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
This extraordinary book, derived from the long oral tradition of storytelling in Afghanistan, presents a mesmerizing portrait of a people who triumph with intelligence and humor over the oppression of political dictators and an unforgiving landscape. The Honey Thief reveals an Afghanistan of greater richness and humanity than is conveyed in newspaper headlines.


My Review:
The Honey Thief is a collection of folk lore stories. Some of these short stories are historical tales, others are more moral tales, but all are set in Afghanistan and come from the viewpoint of the Hazara--a minority tribe in Afghanistan. These stories give insight into the mindset and customs of these people along with a history lesson about what they've lived through. May of the stories have a rural setting and give insight into daily rural living throughout their history.

The storyteller, Najaf, understood that Westerners come from a different mindset and explained the differences with gentle humor. I found the tales interesting because they offered a look into a different culture. The recipes at the end are worth reading even if you don't cook. They give insight to the culture and some of the directions were quite funny as you'd never find them in American cookbooks: "...leave them alone for maybe half an hour. Read a book, a good one....a peaceful book" (from page 276).

There was no sex, bad language, or graphic gore. Overall, I'd highly recommend this book to those who like folk lore and are interested in other cultures.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson ISBN-13: 9780062026484 Hardcover: 423 pages Publisher: Greenwillow Released: September 20, 2011

Source: Borrowed from my local library.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
Once a century, one person is chosen by god to perform a great service for god. Elisa is the chosen one. She's also the younger of two princesses--the one who has never done anything remarkable, and she can't see how she ever will.

At sixteen, she's leaving behind all she's ever known. Her life is in danger because she bears the Godstone of the chosen one, so her father marries her to the king of a neighboring country. Her new husband has a mistress and refuses to tell his people that they're married. He's indecisive at a time when an army is massing along his borders. He and his people along the border need the chosen one, not a failure of a princess.

Elisa could be everything to those who need her the most, but can she survive long enough to fulfill prophecy? Some of the chosen die before they do, and almost all die young...


My Review:
The Girl of Fire and Thorns is a young adult fantasy novel. It's written in first person, present tense, and it's a quick read. It's the first book in a series, and this book did wrap up the main plot lines by the end.

In some ways, the story wasn't very realistic. For example, she only knows military strategy from books, yet seasoned warriors take her (good) advice on strategy. And no one told her that her life was in danger or why she was being married away as, apparently, they thought she'd be safer if she didn't know about it. Yet these aspects worked together to create an Elisa that had no confidence in herself since no one else did, yet she saw glimpses of what she could be when people obeyed her war orders.

Though considered "magic" related, the Godstone didn't actually do much beyond give her a small amount of protection against the enemy. (It does more in the second book.) Everyone in the world apparently worships the same god--called God, but it's a fantasy deity--yet they have different ideas about what this god's will is and how the chosen one is to be used. This is a source of much of the conflict in the story.

I liked that Elisa decided to stop "being useless" and do whatever she could to make a difference, even if it was something small. She learned a lot about being a leader. (Unfortunately, in the second book, she reverted back to being passive and useless again. *sigh*)

Elisa falls in love very easily with any guy that gives her kind attention, but the men that she likes don't tend to last long since she constantly went from one dangerous situation into another. The main reason I was interested in the next book was curiosity if her next love interest--one of the few really intriguing characters--manages to survive that book.

The book was exciting with suspense from relationship tensions, physical danger, and discovering more about the Godstone and the different people groups in this world. The characters and cultures were interesting and varied.

There was no sex. There was no bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable fantasy novel


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

And the winner is...

It's time to announce the winner of the Fool for Books Giveaway Hop. Including Twitter entries, we had 29 entries. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

Meghan
who won "Veiled Revenge" by Ellen Byerrum

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you for your address.

For those who didn't win, you can always buy a copy of these books from your favorite bookstore or see if they have them at your local library.

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer

Death in the Stocks by Georgette Heyer ISBN-13: 9781402217975 Trade Paperback: 314 pages Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Released: 1935; October 2009

Source: Bought through Half.com.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
In the dead of the night, a man in an evening dress is found murdered, locked in the stocks on the village green. Unfortunately for Superintendent Hannasyde, the deceased is Andrew Vereker, a man hated by nearly everyone. Even his eccentric family doesn't mourn his death. It will take all Hannasyde's skill at detection to determine who's telling the truth, and who is pointing him in the wrong direction.


My Review:
Death in the Stocks is a historical cozy mystery set in 1930's England. (It was written as a contemporary mystery.)

Though a detective is involved, we mostly followed the lives of the prime suspects--an eccentric family. They were odd and sometimes thoughtless about other people's feelings, but they weren't trying to be cruel. They treated the crime as an intellectual game and logically (as a group) tried to figure out how various people with motives--including each other--could have pulled it off. Their eccentric behavior regarding the crime was the basis for most of the funny scenes.

This was a clue-based puzzle mystery, and you could guess whodunit before the big reveal. I correctly guessed whodunit fairly early on, but it was mostly based on my knowledge of the author's writing style. I wasn't actually certain based on the clues until closer to the end. I enjoyed trying to decide if I really had the correct whodunit.

There was no sex. There was a fair amount of explicit bad language (mostly of the God-reference variety). Overall, I'd recommend this silly novel to fans of Heyer's mysteries.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.

And the winner is...

It's time to announce the winner of the Hoppy Easter Eggstravaganza Giveaway Hop. Including Twitter entries, we had 39 entries. Using a random number generator and numbering the entrants in the order I received them, the winner is:

@Cindi169 (Cynthia Clubbs)
who won "Town In A Pumpkin Bash" by B.B. Haywood

Congratulations! I'll be contacting you for your address.

For those who didn't win, you can always buy a copy of these books from your favorite bookstore or see if they have them at your local library.

The Homicide Hustle by Ella Barrick

The Homicide Hustle by Ella Barrick ISBN-13: 9780451239747 Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages Publisher: Obsidian Mystery Released: April 2, 2013

Source: Review copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
The traveling TV dance show, Ballroom with the B-Listers, is coming to Washington, D.C., and ballroom dancer Stacy Graysin is first in line to participate. Not only will the publicity propel Graysin Motion, Stacy’s dance studio, into the limelight, but the prize money could help offset her looming debt. Plus, Stacy’s teen idol, heartthrob Zane Savage, specifically requested to be her partner.

But the whirlwind reality contest stumbles when the show’s coproducer, Tessa King, is found dead in the Potomac River. All the clues point to Tessa being murdered--and the suspects are the contestants and crew of B-Listers. Now Zane and the rest of the B-Listers must promenade back to fame, and Stacy will need to hustle to maintain her reputation, win the competition, and catch a killer.


My Review:
The Homicide Hustle is a cozy mystery. It's the third book in the series, but you don't need to read the previous books in order to understand this one.

The mystery was a clue-based puzzle and whodunit was guessable, but not quickly guessable. The details about the filming for the reality ballroom show were interesting and funny. The characters were varied and interesting. I liked the realistic, complex motives behind the various characters' actions--even for those with smaller parts.

Yet I didn't really like Tessa, though I didn't strongly dislike her, either. She sometimes put others in danger in her quest to solve the mystery, and she generally dismissed her illegal or thoughtless actions as acceptable because she was trying to solve the mystery. While I usually understood her motives for her actions, I didn't understand why she didn't trust a perfectly capable detective to make even obvious deductions about who to question. I saw no reason (in this book at least) as to why she couldn't trust him.

There were no sex scenes. There was a fair amount of explicit bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.