Review Yak

Reunion, J.L. Penn’s first novel, was inspired by reconnecting with her childhood crush on the Facebook social media site. It got her thinking. How many people reconnect with old flames through social media sites? How many end up having an affair through the reconnections?

The infatuation never created any sort of union at school or in adulthood, and both the author and the crush are now happily married – to other partners, and with children. But the line of thinking brought back all the torment and angst suffered as a teenager: the unrequited passion distraction that obsesses teenage years. This helped shape some of the anxiety that Jess, the protagonist in Reunion, finds herself navigating through as she evaluates her marriage and daydreams about a life with the fascination of her high school years.

Who does Jess end up choosing? This uber-contemporary novel has all the addictive qualities of Facebook. Read Reunion here and listen to Jenn discussing her book here.

Reunion is available on www.bookhabit.com  (more…)

Adopting a child from a foreign country is for the big hearted, not for the fainthearted. Cathy Bonnstetter and her family adopted four and a half year old Alex from Romania after a long process dealing with agencies and bureaucracy. More than once they thought about giving up on the idea Cathy had had since she was in her teens. That the family did not give up is in some part due to the welcoming and generous nature of her 3 biological children, who convinced her that they had to keep on fighting to bring Alex to the United States and become a part of their loving family.

Cathy, a journalist and also a teacher with special education training, wrote this five part book based on the stories of her family and four other families who adopted children from foreign countries. The book focuses  (more…)

Malcolm Aitken in his essay, Hitler, the Jews and the Ballot Box, provides an analysis of the campaign by the Nazis leading up to the 1932 Reichstag election. Aitken says, The consensus varies about when and to what extent the Germans started supporting Nazi anti-Semitic persecution and murder of Jews, but it was widely accepted that the Nazis did not come into power in a country that was as viciously anti-Semitic as they were. Daniel J Goldhagen, in his 1996 book “Hitler’s Willing Executioners” instead said this hatred of Jews existed pre Hitler’s ascent and that the holocaust was ultimately an expression of popular anti Semitism among  ordinary Germans.

Goldhagen reasserted racist type bigotry as just as important a reasons as the others for Germans supporting Hitler from early on. In ‘Hitler, the Jews and the Ballot Box,’ Aitken uses an analysis of the build up to the July 1932 Reichstag election six months before Hitler came into power to show that Goldhagen’s inference that the  (more…)

Jason Cook’s descent into a world of hard core drugs began at age 12. By 19 he was in prison, having started supplying drugs in order to finance his drug dependency which included Ecstasy, Cocaine and Marijuana.

When Jason was a boy his parents moved from London to Hertfordshire, with the idea of removing him from the life that he ended up living. When Jason overdosed his family finally understood that all his “friends” coming and going from the house were not visiting to spend quality time with their son. By that time it was almost a cause without hope, but miraculously, Jason found the strength and character to stick to the drug-free program that he undertook while in prison and is now living a clean life and working with the community to ensure more people don’t end up in the circus that became his life. (more…)

A conversation with John Francis is interspersed with relevant rhyme in a delightfully silly and engaging way. Some of John’s poetry is of the more serious and dark persuasion, but it is the more childish rhymes that bring him most joy. John talks with Clare Tanner on the Bookhabit Show and divulges that he talks to his cat and rabbit for invaluable editorial advice!

John has three illustrated books currently available on Bookhabit: A little book of stupid people, A-Z of silly animals, and Stupid people at work. He also has had several short stories and poems published in literary magazines in USA,UK, and France (2007-08), but it is a newer experience for him to be illustrating his books. He doesn’t hold himself out as an artist, however the illustrations (more…)

Michael Timothy’s wife said her husband didn’t come home that day. That day was September 11, 2001. Gladly, Michael wasn’t a victim in the World Trade Center collapse, but the man who returned home was as permanently changed as the New York skyline.

Michael worked 5 blocks away at the New York Stock Exchange and went to investigate the collision of the first plane. What he didn’t realize as he stood next to the first tower was that the second tower was about to be hit. In amongst the dust and the debris he saw many things: death, heartache, fear, terror, but he also saw bravery, courage, kindness, love and tenderness. He remembers “running as fast as I could, hoping I would survive. But at the same time all I thought was, Lord if I am to die now please take care of my family and let (more…)

Christopher Horan has seen the criminal system from many angles, having worked with criminals, neglected, abused and out-of-control children, and their families, for more than 30 years. Still he finds the energy to write about a career that takes so much of you, and often with little reward or thanks.

Christopher’s has two books on Bookhabit. The first is a memoir, entitled “Nurturing Kiwi Criminals”, with his observations and insights, and stories about the people he worked with. He intertwines these with aspects of his own family background and his older brother’s criminal lifestyle. In Christopher’s words, “My voice is not that of the Sensible Sentencing Trust or the Prisoner’s Aid Society.  (more…)

Every culture has tales of hidden or mythical creatures, legends that grow beyond the size of the creatures they portray. Bigfoot, The Loch Ness Monster – stories are passed down through the generations, and youngsters grow up with imaginings of darkness cloaking monsters ready to pounce at any moment.

Crypto Zoology is the study of these “hidden” or undiscovered animals. It’s not a recognized, degree-granting field of study, such as its respectable relatives: zoology, anthropology or paleontology. “Indeed, dabbling in it can wreck a career,” said Dallas Tanner, a CryptoFiction writer based in South Carolina.

That’s because the tame part of it — such as discovering the long-thought-extinct coelacanth fish off the coast of South Africa — is overshadowed by the far-out part of it — searching for the Loch Ness Monster. Many adventurers and researchers have made it their mission to find these creatures.  (more…)

Water is integral to life and woven into our history through every tale ever told. Garry Law traces New Zealand history through his book, Abundance and Constraint: A Short History Of Water Use In New Zealand. As a water engineer, he has worked in most aspects of the modern dilemmas around water; ownership, allocation, supply, treatment, energy creation. Garry says it’s surprising how far back in history these conflicts go in our settlement, history, and law.

“Adding a little salt to the water”, says Garry is the background to his other book available on Bookhabit. Entitled Auckland, August 1908: A Stop on the Great White Fleet World Cruise, the book places the visit of the Great White Fleet to Auckland in its New Zealand context and its geopolitical context – that of great power rivalry over prestige, territorial (more…)

Lyz Russo is finishing her third book in the Solar Wind series. There are pirates, fugitives, musicians, and a world controller called Unicate. Flying is no longer permitted so the battle is fought at sea. But who can the pirates trust when their nationalities, histories and dispositions aren’t conducive to team work, and when they know there is at least one spy amongst them?

Then there’s a Rebellion in the South Seas, another organisation fighting for control. All of that power resting in the hands of so few just got dangerous. Read The Mystery Of The Solar Wind and The Assassin, and listen to Lyz here. (more…)