Aurora of the Northern Lights
by Holly Hardin
ISBN: 978-1-4327-2439-9

Hardin’s Aurora of the Northern Lights follows Aurora on her quest to find a place to belong after loosing both of her parents to illness. Aurora, being half-human and half-Northern Elf, is subject to a cold reception when she approaches the nearby town after her parent’s death. She is instructed to find people of her own to live with. Amongst the Woodland fey she receives the same chilly reception before finally finding her way to the Northern Fey where she finds a home amongst her people. Along the way Aurora is helped out by kindly folk who even give her gifts to make her traveling easier.

There was one thing about this book that disappointed me slightly. Despite being billed as a tale for Christmas it lacked the feel of a holiday tale. There are holiday aspects woven into the tale, such as the name of Aurora’s mother, her mother’s kin, gift giving, and even the presence of Santa Claus himself. And yet, despite that, I felt the story’s emphasis was more on the journey that Aurora took to find the place she belonged. It felt misleading, to me, that the story is referred to as a Christmas tale and that the selected recommendations on the back cover also suggest this. That is not to say it detracted from the story, merely that I feel labeling this tale exclusively as a holiday tale is to do it a grave injustice.

Aurora of the Northern Lights is a lighthearted and warm tale that will delight children, no matter what season it is, and is also a joy for adults and parents to read as well. The illustrations are colorful and engaging and will make the tale that much more enjoyable. The story also succeeds in getting numerous messages out to readers, both young and adult, without coming across as overbearing which will make it an enjoyable read for children outside of the recommended age group of 9 to 12.

Joana’s Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)

Special thanks to author Holly Hardin for providing a copy for review.

In My Mailbox is a weekly feature that is hosted by The Story Siren. Every Sunday (maybe Monday if I’m feeling off) I will post a list of all of the books I received or bought over the past week. I don’t expect this to be a weekly feature at TS – but hey – it’d be great if it was!

The UPS man probably got tired of having to deliver to me [since I'm out in the boonies] over this past week but since he was bringing me books I absolutely loved him. Even if he seems to be a perpetual grouch. Without further ado, these are the books that I received for the week of August 23 to August 30, 2009.

Books Received for Review:

Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin

Back Cover Excerpt: Named for the Northern Lights, Aurora faces a woeful plight. To many lands she must roam, searching for her true home.

Come along as author Holly Hardin conjures a mystical world of adventure, sprites, and magical charms. After losing her parents, little Aurora sets off on her own. Because she’s different, Aurora finds it difficult to find anyone who will listen to her story, even at Christmas time. As her story continues, Aurora receives special gifts to keep her safe and important clues to find her new home.

Follow the journey as Aurora encounters a host of creatures along the way – including one very famous bearded man. What follows in this beautifully illustrated and delightfully written book is a heartwarming story of a home lost and found – and a Christmas lesson for us all.

I received this on Monday (August 24th) and immediately had to crack it open and read it! I meant to write a review for it, but then got side-tracked with Cult Insanity.

NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
by Po Bronson and Ashely Merryman

Amazon.com Product Description: In a world of modern, involved, caring parents, why are so many kids aggressive and cruel? Where is intelligence hidden in the brain, and why does that matter? Why do cross-racial friendships decrease in schools that are more integrated? If 98% of kids think lying is morally wrong, then why do 98% of kids lie? What’s the single most important thing that helps infants learn language?

NurtureShock is a groundbreaking collaboration between award-winning science journalists Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. They argue that when it comes to children, we’ve mistaken good intentions for good ideas. With impeccable storytelling and razor-sharp analysis, they demonstrate that many of modern society’s strategies for nurturing children are in fact backfiring–because key twists in the science have been overlooked.

This book also arrived on Monday and I am now in the process of reading it. Truth be told, I was beginning to think it had gotten lost in the mail as it was expected to have arrived awhile ago. Keep your eyes peeled for an upcoming review and giveaway for this book!

She Still Calls Me Daddy: Building a New Relationship with Your Daughter After You Walk Her Down the Aisle by Robert Wolgemuth

“Dad, I’m getting married!” – four little words that change everything, even for the most prepared father. Suddenly your daughter – the little, the awkward adolescent, the spirited teenager, the young woman – who once depended on you, now turns to a new man for strength and support. It’s enough to stagger even the strongest of men.

As the father of two married daughters, Robert Wolgemuth understands the roller coaster of emotions that you feel as you walk your precious girl down the aisle. He also understand that giving her away at the altar doesn’t mean completely giving up the relationship that you’ve so carefully built over the years – it just means that the relationship is going to need some substantial renovation.

This book will give you special insights and the tools you need to gracefully expand your family and continue to cherish the young woman who still calls you Daddy.

This book also arrived on Monday. I felt sorry for the UPS man who delivered it. It was raining and it was late and yet he still continued his rounds. Gotta love that kind of dedication.

Friends Like These: My Worldwide Quest to Find my Best Childhood Friends, Knock on Their Doors, and Ask Them to Come Out and Play by Danny Wallace

Jacket Excerpt: Danny Wallace has friends. He has a wife and goes to brunch, and his new house has a couch with throw pillows on it.

But as he nears thirty, he can’t help wondering about his childhood friends. His first friends. Where are they now – and where, really, is he?

When Danny finds an address book in which he’d inscribed the names and numbers of the twelve best friends he has as a kid, he comes to a stunning realization. They were probably all turning thirty, too! Were they also trying to cope with the confusing new fog of adulthood? Did they have a couch with throw pillows on it?

Journeying from London to Berlin, Tokyo, Australia, and California, he risks rejection and ridicule to show up on his old pals’ doorsteps. Memories of his 1980s childhood – from Michael Jackson and Michael J. Fox to Ghostbusters and Goonies – reappear as he meets former buddies who have blossomed into rappers and ninjas, time-traveling pioneers, chain-restaurant managers, and even Fijian royalty.

Proving that as things change they also remain the same, Danny re-befriends them all, giving remarkable new resonance to the age-old mantra “friends forever!”

This one, along with Cult Insanity arrived on Thursday. This memoir is by the same author as Yes Man so I have high hopes for this one as well.

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer

Thoughts of sleep fled as I listened to my pounding heart. Whom would I grab if we had to flee for our lives? Would I take the baby and leave the other nine to fend for themselves? Whom would I take and where would I run?

My agitated mind could not keep facing death every moment I was awake. I had to come up with a plan. The next morning, I walked three blocks to my ex-sister-wife Helen’s rock home. In a rush of words, I told her of my concern for my children’s lives and that I needed help. She agreed, and we walked together out of the house and through her backyard. She unlocked a small feed room adjacent to the goat corrals. Once inside, I scoped out the space. I could move a few bales of hay and, by stacking them a little higher, make a little more room in the shed. Helen offered a twin-size mattress that was stored on top of the hay. With a promise from Helen to tell no one, I felt relief flood me. I had a hiding place for my brood of children. We would be safe. – from Cult Insanity

I actually already finished reading this book and reviewed it too.

Books from Giveaways & Contests

Grandville by Bryan Talbot

Inspired by the work of nineteenth-century French illustrator Gerad, who worked under the nom de plume J.J. Grandville, and the seminal science fiction illustrator Robida – not to mention Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rupert the Bear and Quentin Tarantino – Grandville is a steampunk masterpiece in which Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard stalks a gang of ruthless killers through belle epoque Paris…Audacious, fantastical, beautifully drawn and coloured, it confirms Bryan Talbot’s reputation as one of the best graphic novelists in the world.

I’d like to thank @Vintagebooks for hosting this awesome giveaway! You guys are awesome!

The temperature is dropping off, the kiddies are back in school, and skulls and witches can be found in every store. The signs are all pointing in one direction – Fall is upon us and Halloween is right around the corner! And with the arrival of the fall comes the long awaited return of the Readers Imbibing Peril book challenge hosted by Carl at StainlessSteelDroppings.com.

This actually marks the second year that I will be participating in the challenge. The challenge begins on September 1, 2009 and runs until October 31, 2009. As always, there are three tiers (perils) that you can choose from to participate in:

• Peril the First: Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.
• Peril the Second: Read Two books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose.
• Peril the Third: Read One book of any length from one of the subgenres listed below.

The acceptable genres include: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, and Supernatural.

Once again, I will be participating in Peril the First. These are my potential pool of books for the challenge:

• Lucinda Darkly by Sunny
• Marked by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast
• Key to Conflict by Talia Gryphon
• Uninvited by Amanda Marrone
• Dark Harvest by Norman Partridge

That sounds like a good pool to start with. I have no doubt though that I’ll end up with more books in it as well.

Will you be participating in the R.I.P. IV challenge?

Cult Insanity
A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement
by Irene Spencer
ISBN: 978-0-446-53819-0

Spencer’s Cult Insanity is a follow-up to her previous memoir Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife and focuses primarily on the events centering around the foundation of the Mormon Fundamentalist sect known as the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times, the subsequent splintering of Ervil LeBaron and his followers, the formation of the cult known as the Church of the Lamb of God, and the “blood atonement” murders carried out by order of Ervil LeBaron. It is not necessary to read Shattered Dreams before reading Cult Insanity in order to understand everything that goes on in this memoir, although it certainly wouldn’t hurt, as Spencer takes the time to educate her readers on the principles of Fundamentalist Mormonism and how her faithfulness to this religion would lead her to become the second wife of Verlan LeBaron.

By the second chapter it becomes clear to the reader that the author herself still wonders how she could have remained with the LeBaron’s as she did. Each chapter is rich with the author’s emotions. Spencer looks back over this harrowing and uncertain time period and recounts the events as they unfolded around her as well as filling in the gaps that time has provided answers for. As a plural wife, Spencer recalls the times she spent in abject poverty trying to raise her brood of thirteen children in a foreign country with a poor understanding of the language while sharing her husband with his other wives and children all the while living with the threat of death hanging over their heads. Spencer’s struggle with her conflicting thoughts and wavering faith in Fundamentalist Mormonism; the gut-wrenching loneliness she felt as she longed for a husband who was in hiding from his own brother; and the spine-numbing fear she lived in as she constantly fretted over her and her childrens’ lives as well as their day to day survival serve to add another dimension to this frightening tale of a madman and his reign of blood and terror.

Despite how riveting this story was I couldn’t help but notice some problems that detracted from the overall enjoyment of the book. The is no real continuity in the relaying of events. For example, the author initially speaks of the events that occurred when she first arrived at Colonia LeBaron and then jumps forward a few years and continues on for a bit. The author then begins relaying events that occur at a much later date, even mentioning people readers have not been introduced to, before returning once again to events set in the early days of the Church of the Firstborn. The author does not do this once or twice either, Spencer repeatedly jumps around recalling events and tying them together without any real regard for a working time line. Which left me at times wondering just how the events fit together.

There are also a large number of people to keep track of as well, which combined with the jumping around, can make keeping track of all the happenings and numerous players rather difficult. I honestly found myself having to keep track of the names mentioned on a notepad so that I could remember who was married to who, who followed whom, who defected from the Church and when, which kids were whose kids and from what marriages, and so forth. Some of the confusion was alleviated upon reaching the epilogue, where a quick timeline of the violent crimes carried out by Ervil and his followers was provided. Also provided was a list of Ervil’s wives and children, however, since Ervil’s wives and children only make up a fraction of the players in this story it didn’t provide too much clarification. A map is also provided at the beginning of the book which will prove beneficial for those unfamiliar with the South West.

Ultimately I found the book to be highly engaging and addictive, I simply could not put the book down for prolonged periods of time. I would highly recommend that anyone with an interest in religious crimes, cults, and true crime, pick this book up. Despite it’s faults it is an excellent read and provides a riveting first-hand insight into the Mormon fundamentalist cult known as the Church of the Firstborn of the Fullness of Times, the birth of the murderous offshoot cult Church of the Lamb of God led by Ervil LeBaron, and the assassinations in the name of blood atonement that occurred as a result.

Joana’s Rating: (3 out of 5 stars)

Special thanks to Anna Balasi of Hachette Book Group for providing a copy for review.