Unexpected Gifts by SR Mallery

Publication Date: April 16, 2013

Mockingbird Lane Press

Formats: eBook, Paperback

Genre: Historical Fiction







Can we learn from our ancestral past? Do our relatives’ behaviors help mold our own? In "Unexpected Gifts," that is precisely what happens to Sonia, a confused college student, heading for addictions and forever choosing the wrong man. Searching for answers, she begins to read her family’s diaries and journals from America’s past: the Vietnam War, Woodstock, and Timothy Leary era; Tupperware parties, McCarthyism, and Black Power; the Great Depression, dance marathons, and Eleanor Roosevelt; the immigrant experience and the Suffragists. Back and forth the book journeys, linking yesteryear with modern life until finally, by understanding her ancestors' hardships and faults, she gains enough clarity to make some right choices.

My review:

Five Stars

Copy received from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review.

"Unexpected Gifts" by SR Mallery was full of many unexpected surprises and twists and turns.  Mallery's story was heartbreaking, sweet and fulfilling.  The heroine, Sonia, was less than perfect. She was constantly making wrong decisions and choosing wrong people in her life.  Aside from her bad choice in relationships she also struggles with addiction.  Sonia is very lost and doesn't seem to be able to find her path.  One mysterious trip to her families attic takes her on a journey to the past.  When Sonia digs into her ancestral path she discovers that her family participated in the woman's suffrage movement.  During this adventure Sonia is able to clear her mind and find her path.  The author was able to skillfully transport Sonia from the past to the present and connect her journey with her families.  I really enjoyed this story. I liked Sonia and found her to be very human and endearing.  I also loved learning about this point in history where woman fought for equal footing.  I highly enjoyed and recommend this story.

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Praise for Unexpected Gifts

“S.R. Mallery has caught the defining moments in the lives of one working class, upward striving family, as each one of them benefits from and contributes to the growth and setbacks of America itself…A rich and involving book, the author has written a gem. –Dorothy Salisbury Davis, A Gentle Murderer, Lullaby of Murder, The Pale Betrayer, etc.



“S.R. Mallery, with her strong sense of history and deft narrative skills, shows us one American family’s fascinating journey through flashpoints of American history, as a modern day young woman discovers the spirited narratives of her forbears, and is inspired to take charge of her own life…. an impressive, wonderfully thought out and well-told first novel.” –Carla Davidson, former Senior Editor at American Heritage Magazine

Buy the Book

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

About the Author

S.R. Mallery has worn various hats in her life.



First, a classical/pop singer/composer, she moved on to the professional world of production art and calligraphy. Next came a long career as an award winning quilt artist/teacher and an ESL/Reading instructor. Her short stories have been published in descant 2008, Snowy Egret, Transcendent Visions, The Storyteller, and Down In the Dirt.



"Unexpected Gifts", her debut novel, is currently available on Amazon. "Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads", her collection of short stories, Jan. 2014, both books by Mockingbird Lane Press.



For more information please visit S.R. Mallery's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Unexpected Gifts Blog Tour Schedule.

Monday, September 1

Review at Bookish

Review at Unshefish



Wednesday, September 3

Review at Reading Room Book Reviews

Guest Post at Just One More Chapter



Thursday, September 4

Review at WTF Are You Reading?



Friday, September 5

Spotlight at What Is That Book About



Monday, September 8

Guest Post & Giveaway at Passages to the Past



Tuesday, September 9

Review at Beth's Book Reviews

Review at CelticLady's Reviews



Thursday, September 11

Review at Book Nerd



Friday, September 12

Review at A Book Geek

Spotlight at From the TBR Pile

Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Sewing Can be Dangerous and Other Small Threads by S.R. Mallery

Publication Date: December 16, 2013

Mockingbird Lane Press

Formats: eBook, Paperback, Audio Book

Pages: 276



Genre: Historical Fiction/Short Stories







The eleven long short stories in “Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads combine history, mystery, action and/or romance, and range from drug trafficking using Guatemalan hand-woven wallets, to an Antebellum U.S. slave using codes in her quilts as a message system to freedom; from an ex-journalist and her Hopi Indian maid solving a cold case together involving Katchina spirits, to a couple hiding Christian passports in a comforter in Nazi Germany; from a wedding quilt curse dating back to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, to a mystery involving a young seamstress in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; from a 1980’s Romeo and Juliet romance between a rising Wall Street financial ‘star’ and an eclectic fiber artist, to a Haight-Asbury love affair between a professor and a beautiful macramé artist gone horribly askew, just to name a few.

My review:

Five stars

Copy Received from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review

Since I read S.R. Mallery before I had an idea about her style of writing.  I enjoyed "Unexpected Gifts" and I really enjoyed "Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads."  The author delivers very powerful short stories and each one left an impression.  What I loved about this collection is the stories had a little bit of everything, from love to suspense to historical events. It's impossible to read this beautiful and not feel changed and affected.  I highly recommend and enjoyed it!

Watch the Book Trailer

Buy the Book

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Buy the Audio Book

Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads is now in AUDIO!!! Listen to narrator, Suzie Althens, breathe life and depth into these stories!

Amazon

Audible.com

iTunes

About the Author

S.R. Mallery has worn various hats in her life.



First, a classical/pop singer/composer, she moved on to the professional world of production art and calligraphy. Next came a long career as an award winning quilt artist/teacher and an ESL/Reading instructor. Her short stories have been published in descant 2008, Snowy Egret, Transcendent Visions, The Storyteller, and Down In the Dirt.



“Unexpected Gifts”, her debut novel, is currently available on Amazon. “Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads”, her collection of short stories, Jan. 2014, both books by Mockingbird Lane Press.



For more information please visit S.R. Mallery’s website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, December 1

Review at Unshelfish



Tuesday, December 2

Review at Bibliotica



Wednesday, December 3

Review at History From a Woman's Perspective



Thursday, December 4

Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews and More



Friday, December 5

Guest Post at What Is That Book About

Interview at Dianne Ascroft Blog



Monday, December 8

Review at WV Stitcher



Tuesday, December 9

Review at 100 Pages a Day - Stephanie's Book Reviews

Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection



Wednesday, December 10

Review at A Book Geek



Thursday, December 11

Review at Book Nerd



Friday, December 12

Review at Based on a True Story



Monday, December 15

Review at CelticLady's Reviews



Tuesday, December 16

Review at Book Babe



Wednesday, December 17

Review at Just One More Chapter



Friday, December 19

Review at Book Drunkard

The Talented Ribkins by Ladee Hubbard

Ladee Hubbard, author of The Talented Ribkins, on tour August/September

Posted By TLC Booktours on June 7, 2017

About The Talented Ribkins

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Melville House (August 8, 2017)

Winner of the 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award

At seventy-two, Johnny Ribkins shouldn’t have such problems: He’s got one week to come up with the money he stole from his mobster boss or it’s curtains for Johnny.

What may or may not be useful to Johnny as he flees is that he comes from an African-American family that has been gifted with rather super powers that are rather sad, but superpowers nonetheless. For example, Johnny’s father could see colors no one else could see. His brother could scale perfectly flat walls. His cousin belches fire. And Johnny himself can make precise maps of any space you name, whether he’s been there or not.

In the old days, the Ribkins family tried to apply their gifts to the civil rights effort, calling themselves The Justice Committee. But when their, eh, superpowers proved insufficient, the group fell apart. Out of frustration Johnny and his brother used their talents to stage a series of burglaries, each more daring than the last.

Fast forward a couple decades and Johnny’s on a race against the clock to dig up loot he’s stashed all over Florida. His brother is gone, but he has an unexpected sidekick: his brother’s daughter, Eloise, who has a special superpower of her own.

Inspired by W.E.B. Du Bois’s famous essay “The Talented Tenth” and fuelled by Ladee Hubbard’s marvelously original imagination, The Talented Ribkins is a big-hearted debut novel about race, class, politics, and the unique gifts that, while they may cause some problems from time to time, bind a family together.

“For sheer reading pleasure Ladee Hubbard’s original and wildly inventive novel is in a class by itself.” —Toni Morrison, Nobel Prize-winning author of The Bluest Eye, Beloved, and Song of Solomon

“Crafty and wistful…Hubbard weaves this narrative with prodigious skill and compelling warmth. You anticipate a movie while wondering if any movie could do this fascinating family…well, justice. To describe this novel, as someone inevitably will, as Song of Solomon reimagined as a Marvel Comics franchise is to shortchange its cleverness and audacity.” —Kirkus, starred review

“The Talented Ribkins is a charming and delightful debut novel with a profound heart, and Ladee Hubbard’s voice is a welcome original.” —Mary Gaitskill, author of Bad Behavior and Veronica

“What a pleasure it was to take a road trip with The Talented Ribkins, a simultaneously gifted and flawed family, sharp-witted but prone to making utterly human errors. Ladee Hubbard has given us a fresh and original debut novel.”  —Jami Attenberg, author of All Grown Up

“With The Talented Ribkins, Ladee Hubbard proves herself to be a rare talent who pops onto the scene fully formed as a writer of power and purpose. This is a heart-wrenching quest into the absurdity that is family. Like the best literary fantasies, The Talented Ribkins succeeds because the heart that beats at its center couldn’t be realer.” —Mat Johnson, author of Loving Day and Pym

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

About Ladee Hubbard

Laddee Hubbard is the winner of the 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award and the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for the Short Story. She holds a BA from Princeton University, an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin, and a PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. She lives in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Talented Ribkins is her first novel.

Ladee Hubbard’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Tuesday, August 8th: Lovely Bookshelf

Wednesday, August 9th: Wildmoo Books

Friday, August 11th: 5 Minutes for Books

Monday, August 14th: Jenn’s Bookshelves

Wednesday, August 16th: Lit and Life

Friday, August 18th: Book Lover Book Reviews

Monday, August 21st: Books and Bindings

Wednesday, August 23rd: Too Fond

Friday, August 25th: Broken Teepee

Monday, August 28th: Reading Reality

Wednesday, August 30th: Must Read Faster

Thursday, August 31st: Kahakai Kitchen

Friday, September 1st: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books

Tuesday, September 5th: All Roads Lead to the Kitchen

Wednesday, September 6th: Book Nerd

Thursday, September 7th: Read in Colour

Monday, September 11th: Suzy Approved

Wednesday, September 13th: Patricia’s Wisdom

Friday, September 15th: Thoughts on This ‘n That

The Railwayman's Wife by Ashley Hay

The Railwayman's Wife by Ashley Hay

Publication Date: April 5, 2016

Atria Books

Hardcover, eBook, & AudioBook; 288 Pages

Genre: Historical Fiction/Literary

Amidst the strange, silent aftermath of World War II, a widow, a poet, and a doctor search for lasting peace and fresh beginnings in this internationally acclaimed, award-winning novel.

When Anikka Lachlan’s husband, Mac, is killed in a railway accident, she is offered—and accepts—a job at the Railway Institute’s library and searches there for some solace in her unexpectedly new life. But in Thirroul, in 1948, she’s not the only person trying to chase dreams through books. There’s Roy McKinnon, who found poetry in the mess of war, but who has now lost his words and his hope. There’s Frank Draper, trapped by the guilt of those his medical treatment and care failed on their first day of freedom. All three struggle to find their own peace, and their own new story.

But along with the firming of this triangle of friendship and a sense of lives inching towards renewal come other extremities—and misunderstandings. In the end, love and freedom can have unexpected ways of expressing themselves.

The Railwayman’s Wife explores the power of beginnings and endings, and how hard it can sometimes be to tell them apart. Most of all, it celebrates love in all its forms, and the beauty of discovering that loving someone can be as extraordinary as being loved yourself.

Praise

“Hay immerses the reader in Mac and Ani’s relationship, splicing flashbacks to happier times into the central narrative. Hay’s poetic gifts are evident in her descriptions of the wild coastal landscape and Roy’s measured verse. This poignant, elegant novel delves into the depth of tragedy, the shaky ground of recovery, and the bittersweet memories of lost love. Fans of Jodi Daynard and Susanna Kearsley will adore this.” -Booklist

“Hay has lovingly crafted a poignant, character-driven novel filled with heartache and hope, which is transferred to the reader through lyrical prose, poetic dialogue and stunning imagery.” -RT Book Reviews

“Hay is both cerebral and emotional in portraying life's catastrophes and the way people cope. As if her message is too raw to lay out in blazing color, she camouflages it in poetry and half-seen images—and it works. The message is clear, and the shocks are softened but no less there. Multilayered, graceful, couched in poetry, supremely honest, gentle yet jarring, Hay's thought-provoking novel pulls you along slowly, like a deep river that is deceptively calm but full of hidden rapids. Much to ponder.” -Kirkus

“Exquisitely written and deeply felt…a true book of wonders.” –Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Secret Chord

“An absorbing and uplifting read.” –M.L. Stedman, author of The Light Between Oceans

“This is a book in which grief and love are so entwined they make a new and wonderful kind of sense.” –Fiona McFarlane, author of The Night Guest

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | IndieBound

About the Author

Ashley Hay is the internationally acclaimed author of four nonfiction books, including The Secret: The Strange Marriage of Annabella Milbanke and Lord Byron, and the novels The Body in the Clouds and The Railwayman’s Wife, which was honored with the Colin Roderick Award by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies and longlisted for the Miles Franklin Literary Award, the most prestigious literary prize in Australia, among numerous other accolades. She lives in Brisbane, Australia.

For more information please visit Ashley Hay's website.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, April 18
Review at #redhead.with.book

Tuesday, April 19
Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More

Wednesday, April 20
Review & Giveaway at Flashlight Commentary

Thursday, April 21
Interview & Giveaway at Let Them Read Books

Monday, April 25
Review & Giveaway at Poof Books

Tuesday, April 26
Interview & Giveaway at A Literary Vacation

Thursday, April 28
Review at A Silver Twig

Monday, May 2
Review & Giveaway at The Maiden's Court

Tuesday, May 3
Review at Book Nerd
Review at Queen of All She Reads

Thursday, May 5
Review & Giveaway at Bibliotica

Friday, May 6
Review at Back Porchervations

Tuesday, May 10
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Monday, May 23
Giveaway at Passages to the Past