I love this room in Albertine Book Shop on Fifth Avenue in New York.
New York
Book Review & Giveaway: Birds of Passage by Joe Giordano
Description
What turns the gentle mean and the mean brutal? The thirst for wealth? The demand for respect? Vying for a woman? Birds of Passage recalls the Italian immigration experience at the turn of the twentieth-century when New York’s streets were paved with violence and disappointment.
Leonardo Robustelli leaves Naples in 1905 to seek his fortune. Carlo Mazzi committed murder and escaped. Azzura Medina is an American of Italian parents. She’s ambitious but strictly controlled by her mother. Leonardo and Carlo vie for her affection.
Azzura, Leonardo, and Carlo confront con men, Tammany Hall politicians, the longshoreman’s union, Camorra clans, Black Hand extortion, and the Tombs prison.
Buy the book here: Amazon
My Review
I recieved a free ecopy of this book for an honest review.
Birds of Passage is about Italian immigrants who found their way to New York at the turn of the century. What they found were ghettos, violence, gangs, corruption, and prejudice. There’s a lot of history included in this novel but it’s well presented and it kept my interest.
The characters are interesting. Azzura was born in America to Italian parents so she doesn’t understand some of the Italian ways, such as vendettas. She’s my favorite character, though, because she knows what she believes and what she wants. She almost gives in to her parents and tradition at one point, but she comes to her senses and stays headstrong and independent. Leonardo and Carlo start out as opposites. Leonardo just wants to find his destiny while Carlo is a spoiled aristocrat who ends up having to run to America after committing a crime. Eventually, New York corrupts Leonardo and he ends up just like Carlo. It was pretty sad but I can see how that could happen.
I really enjoyed Birds of Passage. It had been a while since I read historical fiction about early America, which is my favorite. The only thing I didn’t like was the end, but if you like historical fiction, I definitely recommend it.
Author’s Bio
Joe Giordano was born in Brooklyn. His father and grandparents immigrated to New York from Naples. Joe and his wife, Jane have lived in Greece, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their shih tzu Sophia. Joe’s stories have appeared in more than sixty magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Newfound Journal, and The Summerset Review.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook
Giveaway
Win 1 of 3 copies of Birds of Passage (print book USA & Canada) (ebook international)
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Review: Blogger Girl by Meredith Schorr
Title: Blogger Girl
Author: Meredith Schorr
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Booktrope Editions
Publication Date: August 2, 2013
Description: What happens when your high school nemesis becomes the shining star in a universe you pretty much saved? Book blogger Kimberly Long is about to find out. A chick lit enthusiast since the first time she read “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” Kim, with her blog, “Pastel is the New Black,” has worked tirelessly by night to keep the genre alive, and help squash the claim that “chick lit is dead” once and for all. Not bad for a woman who by day ekes out a meager living as a pretty, and pretty-much-nameless, legal secretary in a Manhattan law firm. While Kim’s day job holds no passion for her, the handsome (and shaving challenged) associate down the hall is another story. Yet another story is that Hannah Marshak, one of her most hated high school classmates, has now popped onto the chick lit scene with a hot new book that’s turning heads—and pages—across the land. It’s also popped into Kim’s inbox—for review. With their ten-year high school reunion drawing near, Kim’s coming close to combustion over the hype about Hannah’s book. And as everyone around her seems to be moving on and up, she begins to question whether being a “blogger girl” makes the grade in her off-line life.
Review:
I was given an ecopy of this book for an honest review. I am so glad! What’s more fun than writing a review about chick lit about a girl who writes reviews about chick lit?
I really enjoyed this book. I have only been blogging/reviewing for a few months but it’s obvious that Meredith Schorr did her homework. She was spot on when describing the process.
Blogger Girl is funny but it also made me cry at the end. It’s easy to relate to Kim. She has typical female feelings of insecurity when in a new relationship that, hopefully, most of us keep to ourselves since those feelings are usually resolved in time with a caring and nurturing man.
I like the way her feelings are portrayed toward her nemesis from high school. I think that many of us feel that way about someone from those days. The way that relationship develops and how Kim matures is portrayed well.
Blogger Girl is a great book and I highly recommend it! It’s available on Barnes and Noble
Strand Bookstore in New York
New York. In 1927, Ben Bass opened Strand Book Store on Fourth Avenue, home of New York’s legendary Book Row. Named after the famous publishing street in London, the Strand was one of 48 bookstores on Book Row, which ran from Union Square to Astor Place.
Bound 4 Escape 