Title: Jekyll Says…Good Deeds Cats Do That You Should Too!

Author: D.C. Blackbird

Genre: Children’s Picture Book

Paperback: 36

Publisher: Campfire Publishing

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1468057243

ISBN-13: 978-1468057249

BOOK SUMMARY:

“Jekyll Says …” (Good Deeds Cats Do That You Should, Too!) is a series of amusing and educational poems told from the perspective of a wise and warm-hearted cat named Jekyll. Each perky poem epitomizes something about Jekyll’s vivacious personality and the lessons he teaches are designed to encourage people of all ages to be healthy and happy.

The poems in “Jekyll Says …” consist of rhyming couplets with equal syllables. They have a merry meter and rip-roaring rhythms which make them lively and lyrical and fun to read (or sometimes sing!) aloud.

More than anything, “Jekyll Says …” is perfect for Cat Lovers of all ages, as well as anyone who has ever known and/or loved a companion animal. This book is also appealing to those who desire a break from their busy lives and who want to read something that is joyous and uplifting.

Profits from the sale of this book benefit animal adoption, care, liberation, rescue, and welfare organizations.

Book Trailer:

REVIEW:

Okay so who has that cute little jingle (watch trailer above) still in their heads?  I wanted to include the book trailer in with my review today so you can feel the whole experience.

Jekyll Says…Good Deeds Cats Do That You Should Too! by D.C. Blackbird is one of the cutest books for young children I have ever seen.  I love books that instill good qualities in children and this one certainly fits the bill.  Jekyll is one cool cat and because of this, I feel young children will relate to him.  While it would no doubt charm the diapers right off your little one’s bottom, it’s also a pick me up for kids not feeling good about themselves.  Had a hard day at school and the bully wouldn’t leave you alone?  Grab this book.  I’ll guarantee you the smiles will come out the minute the first page is turned.

Jekyll  makes reading and learning how to do simple things such as keeping clean and how to eat breakfast (in bed of course!), waking up happy, and even shows you how baths can be fun.  He tells us how to wake up happy, how baths can be fun and how to “dress your best” and how to make others smile.

I wish I had had this little book when my kids were young!

The illustrations are whimsical and beautifully done and helps pull the entire book together.  If you are looking for just the right book to read to your children (be sure to watch the trailer first to get the song in your head), this is the one.  Both of you will end up singing right along with the words.  Before you know it, your kid will show up with a new kitty and demand he be called Jekyll.   Why you ask?  Because Jekyll represents happiness!

I would give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Tags: Book Reviews, children's books, children's picture books, D.C. Blackbird, Jekyll Says

Title: Hollywood Stories: Short Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies!
Author: Stephen Schochet
Genre: Nonfiction, Entertainment
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: BCH Fulfillment & Distribution
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0963897275

BOOK SUMMARY:

At high noon on a cold November day in 1974, sixty-seven-year-old John Wayne faced off with the staff of the Harvard Lampoon on the famous campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The students had issued their challenge by calling the beloved American icon a fraud. Wayne, who had his new movie McQ to promote, responded by saying he would be happy to show his film in the pseudo-intellectual swamps of Harvard Square. After the screening, without writers, the former USC footballer delivered a classic performance. When one smart young man asked where he got his phony toupee, Wayne insisted the hair was real. It wasn’t his, but it was real. The appreciative underclassmen loved him and after the Q and A session, they all sat down to dinner. Later Wayne, who was suffering greatly from both gout and the after effects of lung cancer (sadly the Duke only had five years to live), said that day at Harvard was the best time he ever had.

Just when you thought you’ve heard everything about Hollywood comes a totally original new book — a special blend of biography, history and lore.

Hollywood Stories is packed with wild, wonderful short tales about famous stars, movies, directors and many others who have been a part of the world’s most fascinating, unpredictable industry!

What makes the book unique is that the reader can go to any page and find a completely engaging and illuminating yarn. Sometimes people won’t realize that they are reading about The Three Stooges or Popeye the Sailor until they come to the end of the story. The Midwest Book Review says Hollywood Stories is, “packed from cover to cover with fascinating tales.” A professional tour guide in Hollywood, Stephen Schochet has researched and told thousands of entertaining anecdotes for over twenty years. He is also the author and narrator of two audiobooks Tales of Hollywood and Fascinating Walt Disney. Tim Sika, host of the radio show Celluloid Dreams on KSJS in San Jose has called Stephen,” The best storyteller about Hollywood we have ever heard.”Full of funny moments and twist endings, Hollywood Stories features an amazing, all-star cast of legendary characters and icons and will keep you totally entertained!

Watch the book video!

MY THOUGHTS:

Stephen Schochet is a man after my California lovin’ heart.  When I found out I was going to review Hollywood Stories: Short Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies!, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  I used to live in Burbank, California, as a child.  Burbank was a hop and a skip away from Hollywood and might I add my mother was so star struck, when she found out a talent scout was going to be at my school, Abraham Lincoln Elementary (now the Buena Vista Library), she grabbed me and off I went.  I didn’t want to be a star.  I just wanted to be a kid.  So, I messed up on purpose which my Marilyn Monroe-lookalike mom never got over.  She’s probably still turning over in her grave just remembering it.  While in Burbank, I had the chance to “see” a few movie stars: I yelled “There’s Lassie’s mother!” when I saw June Lockhart walk past me at NBC Studios; I had Eddie Fontaine (Gallant Men) serenade me on the guitar with me in his lap (one of my mother’s friends) and I got to watch my idol, Jon  Provost (Lassie’s master boy Timmy) in the Santa Claus Lane Parade in Hollywood.  Ah, those were the days my friend.

Years and years later, I am honored to be revisiting my old stomping grounds.  Hollywood Stories is a piece of history.  It needs to go up in the Smithsonian because nowhere on earth is there a book like this one.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Not only does he talk about different stars but these stars are icons in the movie industry.  I especially loved getting an inside glimpse of how they began their career and what I also loved about it was that not only did Schochet give us our Hollywood fix in telling us about the behind the scenes episodes in these stars lives, but there’s a little extra bonus after each one giving us even more juicy tidbits.

It’s entertaining and so needed if you’re a Hollywood movie bug like me.

Here’s a neat excerpt titled “Welcome to Beverly Hills”:

Since the first movie stars moved into Beverly Hills, its citizens have always had an uneasy relationship with visitors.  Drivers of oversized tour buses found it very difficult to navigate down the tiny street where Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston lived.  The celebrity couple’s neighbors angrily called the police to complain they were trapped in their driveways while waiting for the lumbering vehicles to turn around.  City officials considered a complete ban in 2004, then decided that commercial sightseeing on residential streets would still be allowed in small vans.  Regulated drive-bys were preferred over the alternative of people coming on their own with movie-star maps.  A few years earlier, the single Brad Pitt had gotten a scare when an overzealous female fan had found his house, got past his security, climbed through his window, undressed herself and was waiting in his bed when he got home.

Good grief!  As long as movie and TV stars are put into the public’s eye, this sort of thing is bound to happen.  Fascination with the private lives of stars will always be there; it just comes with the price of being a star.  There are lots of tidbits like this included in Schochet’s book.  I would highly recommend it if you’re a Hollywood freak like me.  I would without a doubt give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Tags: book review, Book Reviews, Hollywood, Hollywood reviews, Hollywood stars, Hollywood Stories, Hollywood Stories: Short Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies!, Stephen Schochet

Title: The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey: A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary
Author: Deborah Barnes
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback: 180
Publisher: ZZP Publishing
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0983440802

BOOK SUMMARY:

Combining a warm, humorous, and conversational style of writing with stunning photos and charming artwork, readers are immediately immersed into the world of Zee, a lovable male Maine Coon cat, and Zoey, a high-spirited female Bengal cat, as they share their amazing relationship and bond that formed between the two of them in The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey. What makes this story so compelling, is that the author narrates the journey of the cats through the personal trials and tribulations of her own life. Readers will easily be able to relate to the many moments the author shares and her spot on accuracy in understanding the many nuances of a cat is so realistic, one might think the author was a cat herself!  You will be certain to smile and laugh on more than one occasion as you share this incredible journey with Zee and Zoey and learn the ultimate message they teach us – to embrace the ordinary in life and dare to make it extraordinary.

BOOK REVIEW:

I’d like to start off by saying I’m a huge animal lover.  I’ve had cats – lots of them – dogs, rabbits (well, one), hamsters, birds, you name it, so I knew I couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey: A Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary by Deborah Barnes.  I can’t even begin to name all the reasons why I love this book but if I had to narrow it down to one – the pictures are breathtaking and worth the price alone.

Deborah begins her book by telling us about how her animal kingdom started and let me explain about this “animal kingdom” first.  Deborah is a very conscientious animal owner.  Throughout the book, as she’s talking about each one, you can sense this is someone who doesn’t take pet ownership lightly.  The real stars of this book are, of course, Zee, a Maine coon cat, and Zoey, Bengal cat.  Pictures cannot justify how beautiful these animals are.  But what I loved about this book was how Deborah took us on a journey in itself into her life with these cats, showing us their quirky personalities and wonderful dispositions.  If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to buy from a cattery (which I found particularly interesting) or how these two breeds interact in a  household of other cats, you will love this book.

The photographs in this book are beyond beautiful.  Barnes’ writing style is superb and the storyline keeps you captivated.  Owners of Bengal and Main coon cats will particularly love it, but if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to own one of these cats, this book will help guide you and show you what to expect.  I do want to also note the cover was the most beautiful cover I have ever seen – kudos to the designer!

Cat lovers everywhere will fall in love with The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey and it makes the perfect coffee table book.  The pictures alone are great conversation starters!

I would give this 5 out of 5 stars.

Tags: blog tours, book marketing, book promotions, book publicity, cat behavior, cat lovers, custom illustrations, Deborah Barnes, from ordinary to extraordinary, human-pet bond, humorous, inspirational, kittens, learning lessons, love story, online book promotion, online book publicity, pet lovers, photography, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, sell your book, The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey, virtual book tours

Title: The Nine Lives of Christmas
Author: Sheila Roberts
Genre: Holiday Fiction
Paperback: 224
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0312594497

BOOK SUMMARY:

Bestselling author Sheila Roberts brings us a humorous, heartwarming Christmas novel about a matchmaking cat who brings a couple together just in time for the holidays. When a guy is in trouble, he starts making deals with his Creator…and Ambrose the cat is no exception. In danger of losing his ninth and final life, Ambrose makes a desperate plea.  He’ll do anything—anything!—if he can just survive and enjoy a nice long, final life. His prayer is answered when a stranger comes along and saves him, and now it looks like he has to hold up his end of the bargain.

The stranger turns out to be a fire fighter named Zach, the quintessential commitment- phobe who’s in need of some serious romantic help. If Ambrose can just bring Zach together with Merilee, the nice lady who works at Pet Palace, it’s bound to earn him a healthy ninth life.  Unfortunately for Ambrose, his mission is a lot harder than he ever anticipated.  Now it’s going to take all his feline wiles—and a healthy dose of Christmas magic—to bring them alltogether in time for the holidays.

BOOK REVIEW:

First of all, I love cats, I love Christmas stories with a happy ending and I love Sheila Roberts’ books. In this whimsical holiday tale that’s just the right ticket to get you into the holiday spirit, Ambrose the cat is a cat with a mission.  Having survived the last eight lives, his ninth one is a bit more precious as that’s it!  In walks Zach who needs help only he doesn’t know it.  He’s horrible in the commitment department and Ambrose decides that if he helps Zach see the light and fall in love with the cute Merilee who works at the local pet shop, he will be redeemed, only it’s not quite that easy.

I thoroughly loved this cute Christmas tale.  Not only was it written exceedingly well, the storyline just won’t get out of my head, not that I’d want it to because it’s all about love and redemption.

I especially loved Ambrose.  He reminded me a lot of Garfield.  The same sassiness but Ambrose knows to be good this 9th go around and strives hard to bring Zach and Merilee together no matter what obstacles are in the way.

If you love Christmas, cats and happy endings, Sheila Roberts’ The Nine Lives of Christmas is the ticket to great holiday reading pleasure!

BTW, if you’d like to listen to an excerpt, click image below!

Tags: blog tours, book marketing, book promotions, book publicity, cats, Christmas, Christmas book, holiday book, Humor, nine lives, online book promotion, online book promotions, online book publicity, online book tour, promote your book, Pump Up Your Book, romance, sell your book, Sheila Roberts, St. Martin's Press, The Nine Lives of Christmas, virtual book tours, women's fiction, women's fiction book, women's fiction novel, women’s fiction

Title: Born Mad
Author: Robyn Wheeler
Genre: Nonfiction; Self-Improvement
Paperback: 144 pages
Publisher: Balboa Press
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-1452536408

BOOK SUMMARY:

Follow Robyn on her journey from fits of rage as an angry child, blunders and setbacks as an adult in deep denial, to her quest for awareness and enlightenment. Robyn takes you inside her deepest thoughts and fears, as well as her chronic anger and thoughts of suicide. After being diagnosed with a “bad state of mind” called dysthymia, Robyn wrote Born Mad to help others who may be unaware that they might be suffering from a low-grade chronic depression that will make l ife difficult, ruin relationships, and contribute to a negative and hopeless outlook on life. Born Mad includes symptoms of dysthymia and copies strategies, as well as the story of how Robyn came to believe in God, defeat chronic anger, and become the person she was meant to be. Read about her courage and determination to be happy and how her life has changed after having a “brain transplant.” If you or someone you know suffers from constant mood swings, angry thoughts, and extreme worry or anxiety, Born Mad might shed light on the reasons why and how to fight your way through to hope, peace and happiness.

REVIEW:

Robyn Wheeler felt her childhood was full of anger.  Not anger directly because of outside influences; in fact, she said she had a happy childhood.  It was an anger within.  It was as if she had no control over it and it eventually had a name – dysthmia.  To back up, she recollects there were times she was the brunt of many practical jokes and later hearing her parents argue.  The parents ended up splitting up but she says she was happy it happened because it was better than hearing screaming all the time.  “As a child of divorce,” she says, “I much preferred shuttling back and forth between two houses than listening ot the bickering.  If two adults can’t get along, it isn’t healthy for their kids to witness this.”

She later tells us that because of all the bickering, it affected her throughout her own marriage and it went on for many many years.  Throughout her adult life, she found herself cowering when someone yelled at her.  People would tell her she had a bad attitude and that no one enjoyed being around her.  I mean think about it, would you want to be around someone who was negative all the time or someone who smiled and laughed and made you feel good to be around them?  “I often wonder why I had any friends,” she wrote.  “I couldn’t have been fun to be around.  I wasn’t someone I wanted to be around, so how could I expect others to want to be around me?”

Robyn goes on to tell us about different instances in her life which included childhood tantrums and adult denial.  She didn’t see what others saw nor did she care what they thought.  Her intentions on telling us this back story was in the hopes of helping others who may be behaving in a similar way and have no idea why.  Born Mad was written for those who feel angry all the time and have no reason why nor do they have any idea on how to snap out of it.

I chose this book to review mainly because I do have someone in my life who is constantly not happy with the world and I wondered if, after reading Robyn’s story, I would come away with some hope that this person might get some help.  I will definitely be passing this book down to him/her.

I will say that after finishing the book, I came away with a new knowledge of a disease that could happen to anyone.  If you know someone who is habitually angry all the time, you’ve definitely got to check out Born Mad by Robyn Wheeler.  Read her story of how she beat the demons that were plaguing her whole being and became the person she truly wanted to be.

Tags: Book Reviews, Born Mad, Robin Wheeler

Title: Fabulously Fifty and Reflecting It
Author: Tamara Elizabeth
Genre: Self-Help; Motivational
Paperback: 124 pages
Publisher: Trail Blazing Press
Language: English
ISBN-13: 978-0983064800

BOOK SUMMARY

This is my story, a story of a woman who has discovered how through my reflections, the truly fabulously lovable me; the authentic me that I was born to be. I have moxie like the trail blazing women of the 20’s.

Today I am a confident, lovable courageous woman who realizes that fairy-tales don’t always have the ending of children’s books, but they can have the ending and continuation of what we truly want and believe. I have sass, courage, spunk, determination and attitude.

This book is the result of hard work and perseverance on a self love journey. It is the reflection of my life and from these reflections I have created a workbook for you, the readers, to assist you on your own journey to find the most authentic loveable you. I am your voice. I speak as you. I have been where you have traveled. I have finished licking my wounds and jumped back into the ring. I am MOXIMIZED!

My reflections shared are not to place blame on anyone in my path, for I take responsibility for my reactions to every challenge I have come across in my life. I just want you to understand that I have walked in your shoes and have never given up. You can restart your life at any time you want and still succeed in whatever you desire. This is not always easy but if it was then the journey wouldn’t be quite as exciting. “Easy is never fun” – to quote my fabulously delicious self love coach.

So I invite you into my world and to reflect upon your world. Enjoy the journey – I promise you it will be the most fabulously wonderful ride of your life.

BOOK REVIEW

Tamara Elizabeth felt unloved and set out on a journey of self-love and in so doing has written a book aptly titled Fabulously Fifty and Reflecting It to help others learn how to love themselves when they feel no one else did.  Fabulously Fifty is a pep talk and soulful journey all wrapped up in one.  Tamara shows women how to step out of their comfort zone by showing them that rejection often wasn’t about them, but their ideas, actions or opinions.  Tamara tells us to treat rejection as a positive moment because it gives you a chance to reevaluate your decisions and thus are able to grow.

One particular part of the book stood out: Tamara is talking to her inner child and says, “I will not let my ex-husband’s words and actions influence the way I feel about myself.  I left my husband, who never respected me; I have moved on and I have become strong.  I have started a new life in another city – Vancouver. I will not let my happiness depend on how my ex-husband treats me.” I wanted to say, “You go girl!”

Sometimes women (and men) are in relationships for the wrong reason (financial for example) and when that happens, something’s going to give.  These women and men are so afraid to go out and live their own lives, they take abuse for years.  But one day, some wake up and realize that if they were just pushed or pushed themselves to make that jump, their lives will become better.

I also liked a chapter called “The Lemon Tree.”  The Lemon Tree is a group she started on Facebook after fleeing from her bad relationship.  As head lemon sqeezer, she would provide the shade of a tree with plenty of comfortable chairs.  “There would be cold water, sugar and pitchers,” Tamara writes.  “All anyone had to bring for the visit were their own lemons.”  One particular sentence in that chapter says it all, “It’s not the load you carry, it’s how you carry that load.”

Tamara’s words of wisdom comes through as she tells us to look back at our past and turn whatever happened into positives.  It’s a self-help book on finding yourself and discovering self-love what many women may have lacking in their lives.  If you want to get to that place where you can say what you want, when you want and are willing to take responsibilities for your own words, read Fabulously Fifty and Loving It!

Tags: become lovable, blog tours, book publicity, book publicity tours, deal with break-up, discover self-esteem, discover your moxie, discovering my lovable me, Fabulously Fifty and Reflecting It, find your self-worth, forgive yourself, future desires, future reflections, heal your self-esteem, how to forgive, inner beauty, inner child needing to be loved, motivational, motivational author, moximize, online book promotions, past reflections, present reflections, Pump Up Your Book, self-help, self-help author, starting over, stepping out of your comfort zone, Tamara Elizabeth, transition, virtual book tours

Title: Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey
Author: Diana M. Raab
Paperback: 206 pages
Genre: Memoir; Self-Help
Publisher: Loving Healing Press
Language: English
ISBN-1615990100
ISBN-978-1615990108

About the Book:

Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey is a compassionate and wry self-help memoir written by an award-winning author, nurse and poet, who at the age of forty-seven found her life shattered first by a DCIS (early breast cancer) diagnosis and five years later by another, seemingly unrelated and incurable cancer—multiple myeloma.

Review:

Before I begin my review, I’d like to share a passage from Diana M. Raab’s new book, Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey:

“It seems as if the past couple of weeks have been surreal. A thick cloud suspends over me. How did I get here? I was diligent about my annual mammograms and check-ups. On the first day of my menstrual cycle, I religiously did self-breast exams in the shower. There is no cancer in my family. Why am I lying here all mutilated?”

Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey is Diana M. Raab’s second foray into the world of writing but her first journey into the world of healing. By combining the two, she has written a memoir that not only pulls on the heartstrings but helps to show us the power of the written word in our everyday lives and how we can utilize that to heal. Keeping that in mind, I began to read Diana’s story.

At the age of forty-seven, Diana (who incidentally had no cancer in her family) was diagnosed with breast cancer. Enduring a mastectomy and the pain and embarrassment associated with it, Diana never really fully healed mentally. She found herself depressed (she had every reason to feel this way) after the operation which left her feeling less of a woman. Five years later, she was diagnosed again with an incurable cancer this time – multiple myeloma.

This is Diana’s story. What is unique about her story is that over the course of her journey dealing with cancer, she decided to take up journaling to talk about her experiences and in so doing discovered something so powerful that pills couldn’t even touch – the power of healing through words – intimate words, gut-wrenching soul-searching words that enabled her to talk about her feelings and emotions that were always bottled up inside of her, thus inhibiting her ability to full heal until they all spilled out onto paper.

Thus, Diana decided she not only was going to tell her story but by incorporating an interactive question and answer section to the back of every chapter, it would enable those who had cancer themselves to put their own words on paper and discover what a healing process it was. By doing this, they would find it would alleviate some of the stress which is so detrimental in the healing process.

Healing With Words: A Writers Cancer Journey takes us down Diana’s path of fears and frustrations. You’ll definitely need something to wipe your eyes as this is a story that will touch you deeply, no matter if you have cancer or not. Diana’s words are powerful, yet sensitive to the plight of a woman’s journey who is given the diagnosis of cancer and should not only be read by victims of the disease, but loved ones as well.

Tags: Book Reviews, cancer, cancer book, Diana Raab, Healing with Words, memoir