‘Followed Away’ is book three in the Exalls Attacks series. Photo: amazon
Andre Gonzalez is the international bestselling author of the Wealth of Time Series. He writes time-travel, thriller, and horror books after spending many years reading and studying the works of Stephen King and Dean Koontz. His goal is to keep readers up late and their hearts pumping a bit faster than normal when they crack open one of his books. Andre is the recipient of the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2021 Independent Writer of the Year award. In his new novel, “Followed Away,” the third book in the Exalls Attacks series, life has spiraled out of control for Kyle Wells. Left with minimal means for survival, Kyle must band together with his squad as they sweep the country for any signs of life. (amazon, 2021)
“Followed Away” – Their mission is to save the world. But will they be able to save themselves? Upon returning to the outside world, they discover abyss. Hope and ambition quickly diminish as a disturbing reality settles in—they are all alone. Despite the prior catastrophic mission of cleansing the evil plaguing the land, the Crew find themselves once again facing their enemies for the soul of the future. Outnumbered and outsmarted, Kyle and his team must resort to desperate tactics if they want to survive.
“Followed Home” – Book One: At first, everyone thought it was a prank. Something malevolent is brewing in the Rocky Mountains. Kyle and his friends encounter the evil firsthand while on a hunting trip, oblivious to the danger that will soon follow them back to the city. As tragedy unfolds across the region, the four companions are plunged into a horrifying struggle for survival with an otherworldly threat and the forces that oppose it. With millions of lives suddenly at risk, Kyle finds his best chance at survival is buried within an old family secret.
“Followed East” – Book Two: The Exalls are back. And they are thirsty for revenge. Kyle Wells has spent the last four years piecing together his shattered life. After a meeting with the Pentagon, he agrees to fight the beings who have taken everything from him. Leaving behind the only life he has known, Kyle relocates across the country to embark on his new journey. Once in the nation’s capital, he learns an entire world has been kept classified for decades. More importantly, he discovers his grandmother’s true role in the organization known as The Crew. When random attacks begin sprouting around the country, a familiar disturbing pattern emerges. As the tragedies gradually inch closer toward the Pentagon, Kyle finds himself thrust into battle against his lethal enemies. With the ultimate showdown looming, he tumbles across a chilling revelation hidden in the depths of his father’s home. Will this discovery be the key to saving his life—and the country—as we know it?
“A Different Dawn” by Isabella Maldonado is book two in the Nina Guerrera series. Photo: amazon
Award-winning author Isabella Maldonado wore a gun and badge in real life before turning to crime writing. A graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico and the first Latina to attain the rank of captain in the Fairfax County Police Department just outside DC, she retired as the Commander of Special Investigations and Forensics. During more than two decades on the force, her assignments included hostage negotiator, department spokesperson, and precinct commander. She uses her law enforcement background to bring a realistic edge to her writing, which includes the Detective Cruz series and the Nina Guerrera series. The latter consists of “The Cipher” and now “A Different Dawn.” In her new book “A Different Dawn,” book two in the Nina Guerrera series, for nearly thirty years a serial killer has been hiding in plain sight. So has the key to an FBI agent’s dark past. (amazon, 2021)
“A Different Dawn” – A family is murdered as they sleep. FBI Special Agent Nina Guerrera and her new team are tasked with determining whether there is any link between this attack and another triple homicide from four years earlier and more than two thousand miles away. In the process, they will discover a serial killer so cunning that his grisly trail of death spanning nearly three decades has gone undetected. Each crime scene reminds Nina of the ghostly Latin folktale of La Llorona, which terrified her when she was an abandoned and vulnerable child. Now it is back to haunt her. Nina has known evil, but these macabre reenactments are as disturbing as they are baffling. Now she must uncover the meaning behind the rituals as the evidence leads her in an unexpected direction―far closer to home than anyone could have imagined. As the team narrows in on a suspect, the present collides with Nina’s past in a twist of fate that forces her to make the ultimate sacrifice.
‘Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846’ is Laurel Anne Hill’s new Young Adult novel. Photo: amazon
Laurel Anne Hill is an author and former underground storage tank operator. She grew up in San Francisco with more dreams of adventure than good sense or money. Her close brushes with death, love of family, respect for honor and belief in a higher power continue to influence her writing and her life. Laurel has written over thirty published short stories and two award-winning YA novels, including “The Engine Woman’s Light,” the gripping spirits-meet-steampunk, coming-of-age heroic journey of a young Latina in an alternate 19th century California. “The Engine Woman’s Light” has won a total of thirteen honors and awards, including a Kirkus Star. Sand Hill Review Press is set to release Laurel’s next Young Adult novel, “Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846” on October 16, 2021. It tells the story of a young Mexican girl whose country is in turmoil. (Laurel Anne Hill, 2021)
“Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846” – This Young Adult historical fantasy tells the story of a 16-year-old Mexican girl, Catalina, and her fight for her country after American invaders declare war on Mexico. Circumstances compel Catalina to protect all those she holds dear when American invaders, called the Bear Flaggers, declare that Mexican California belongs to the United States. Faced with the imprisonment and murders of her friends, Catalina relies on guidance from people and places more powerful than herself. Catalina risks her reputation, future with the man she loves, and, ultimately, her soul to prevent the calamity she fears. Experience mid-19th century Mexican Alta California with Catalina and the spirits she encounters along the way.
Laurel says about her newest book, “My Mexican great-grandmother, as a teen in US California during the 1860s, recruited Mexican ex-patriots to return to their country of birth and rid Mexico of French soldiers. Her dedication, and that of my great-great-grandmother and many others, helped restore the Mexican Republic. How could this bit of family history not inspire me to create a character such as Catalina? A brave young woman in the 1840s who learns to believe the unbelievable and accomplish what only she is meant to do?”
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Announcing the 2021 Texas Book Festival lineup. Photo: Texas Book Festival, used with permission.
The Texas Book Festival is excited to announce the lineup for its annual festival featuring nationally renowned authors, including Chandler Baker, Oscar Cásares, Sandra Cisneros, Ann Cleeves, Tamron Hall, Nathan Harris, Louis Menand, Sam Quinones, and more. (Texas Book Festival, 2021)
The 2021 hybrid festival will take place October 23 through 31 and the lineup features nearly two hundred authors, illustrators, poets, journalists, artists, chefs, and thought leaders across a diverse array of genres and topics. The festival will also highlight previously announced authors Rumaan Alam, Mary Gaitskill, R. J. Palacio, Raj Patel, Amor Towles, Colson Whitehead, and more.
Virtual October 23-24 • Children’s programming • Texas Teen Book Festival: Young Adult Authors and panels October 25-31 • Adult fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and cooking
In-person October 30 • Read Me A Story children’s picture book authors at Symphony Square • Lit Crawl at Symphony Square October 31 • Adult programming at Austin Central Library
Texas Teen Book Festival Angeline Boulley, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and Neal Shusterman will headline the 2021 Texas Teen Book Festival, taking place online on October 23 and 24. The TTBF lineup also includes David Bowles, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Candace Buford, Hafsah Faizal, Jennifer Mathieu, Lilliam Rivera, Tracy Wolff, and more.
Children’s Programming Children’s authors and illustrators in the full lineup include Gloria Amescua, Kathi Appelt, Adrianna Cuevas, K.A. Holt, Oliver Jeffers, Varian Johnson, Jon Scieszka and Steven Weinberg, Nicholas Solis, and Don Tate.
Texas Authors Texas authors featured at this year’s festival include Jeff Abbott, Kate Biberdorf, H. W. Brands, Ellen Riojas Clark, May Cobb, Carrie Fountain, Cassy Joy Garcia, Dolores Huerta, Priya Huq, Elizabeth McCracken, Bill Minutaglio, Juan Miró, Tomás Q. Morín, Jarrett and Jerome Pumphrey, Divya Srinivasan, S. Kirk Walsh, Lawrence Wright, and many more.
All Festival titles will be available in the official BookPeople Texas Book Festival online bookstore. Select titles will be available in person at Symphony Square and the Austin Central Library. BookPeople is the official bookseller for the Texas Book Festival. BookPeople donates a portion of every book sold through the online Festival store and the Festival back to the Texas Book Festival.
‘Never Saw Me Coming’ is Vera Kurian’s much anticipated debut novel. Photo: amazon
Vera Kurian is a writer and scientist. Her short fiction has been published in magazines such as Glimmer Train, Day One, and The Pinch. She has lived in DC for most of her adult life and has a PhD in social psychology. “Never Saw Me Coming,” her debut novel, is a Most Anticipated Novel of Fall 2021 by Newsweek, Goodreads, PopSugar, Crime Reads, SheReads, Crime by the Book, The Nerd Daily, and more. It centers around the conundrum: You should never trust a psychopath. But what if you had no choice? (amazon, 2021)
“Never Saw Me Coming” – It would be easy to underestimate Chloe Sevre. She is a first-year honor student, a legging-wearing hot girl next door, who also happens to be a psychopath. She spends her time on yogalates, frat parties and plotting to kill Will Bachman, a childhood friend who grievously wronged her. Chloe is one of seven students at her DC-based college who are part of an unusual clinical study of psychopaths—students like herself who lack empathy and cannot comprehend emotions like fear or guilt. The study, led by a renowned psychologist, requires them to wear smart watches that track their moods and movements. When one of the students in the study is found murdered in the psychology building, a dangerous game of cat and mouse begins, and Chloe goes from hunter to prey. As she races to identify the killer and put her own plan for revenge into action, she will be forced to decide if she can trust any of her fellow psychopaths—and everybody knows you should never trust a psychopath.
The BookFest’s fall 2021 event will feature conversations, panel discussions, live interactive events, and more. Photo: The BookFest, used with permission.
The BookFest is the leader in virtual literary events and produces vital conversations on the world’s stage for those who love to read and those who love to write. It launched May 2020 at a time when lockdown forced many live events to be cancelled. Free to attend, the biannual event takes place in the spring and fall and streams panel discussions, conversations, and live interactive sessions. As an award-winner, The BookFest has recognitions from the Webby Awards with a nomination in 2021, a gold award from the Muse Creative Awards in 2020, and a silver award from the w3 Awards in 2020. The BookFest features an array of literary speakers, experts, and authors, which has included: Mitch Albom; Kevin J. Anderson; Mark Coker; Robert G. Diforio; Cheryl Willis Hudson; Wade Hudson; Sarah Kendzior; Jonathan Maberry; Lisa Morton; James Rollins; Connie Schultz; Michael Shermer; Danny Trejo and many others. The BookFest is presented by Books That Make You and produced by Black Château Enterprises. (The BookFest, 2021)
The BookFest® returns for its fourth biannual virtual event with the Fall 2021 edition. As the leader in online book festivals, it will be held on Saturday October 23 and Sunday 24. Free to attend, the programming will engage with those who love to read on Saturday and then lean over to those who love to write on Sunday. Attendees can look forward to four conversations, several panel discussions, and live interactive events. The BookFest is presented by Bookstagrammers, a platform dedicated to book influencers, and by Books That Make You, a bookish brand for bibliophiles. It is produced by Black Château Enterprises.
The BookFest Conversations are intimate discussions with writers and literary leaders. These talks cover the topics of our times as well as provide insights and inspiration to bibliophiles everywhere.
The BookFest Fall 2021 Conversations include:
Lisa Morton – six-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, Morton’s work has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. She has appeared in numerous documentaries and podcasts. Lisa Morton is also the immediate past president of the Horror Writers Association.
Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein – assistant professor of physics, a core faculty member in women’s studies at the University of New Hampshire, and author of “The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred.”
Mark K. Shriver – New York Times bestselling author, president of Save the Children Action Network in Washington, D.C. and former Maryland state legislator. Shriver’s latest children’s book is titled “10 Hidden Heroes: A Counting Book with a Message.”
Helene Wecker – New York Times bestselling author. Her first novel “The Golem and the Jinni” was awarded the Mythopoeic Award for Adult Literature, the VCU Cabell Award for First Novel, and the Harold U. Ribalow Prize, and was nominated for a Nebula Award and a World Fantasy Award. The Hidden Palace is the recently released follow-up novel.
The BookFest Fall 2021 Keynote Speaker is Lori H. Schwartz. Also known as “The Tech Cat,” Schwartz will speak about the convergence of technology and storytelling to kick off The BookFest Adventure. Poet Debbie Monteggia also joins the opening of the event with a poetry reading. Panel discussions, Live Author Chats and new interactive pitching sessions include an array of authors and experts. The full program will continue to grow and will be announced prior to the event.
“We’re proud to present the fourth BookFest. With continuing uncertainty about social distancing and the need for connection among booklovers, I am proud of how The BookFest Adventure is positioned to bring the reading and writing communities together.” – Desireé Duffy, The BookFest founder
Fan-favorites, the Big Bundle of Books Giveaway presented by Books That Make You, the free Virtual Gift Bag for all attendees, and the Live Author Chats, which will be hosted by Scott Ryan and Anastasia Washington, also return. People are encouraged to register for email updates on the website to stay informed, and to join The BookFest Adventure Facebook Group.
Attendees can browse “Virtual Booths,” which are pages for BookFest sponsors, like a physical booth one might find at a festival. There is also a “Books Page” highlighting books from participants. The BookFest organizers encourage attendees to browse books and support the authors and partners who help bring this free-to-attend event to attendees around the globe.
Other supporters of The BookFest in 2021 include:
Authors, Large and Small; Authors Porch; Black Château Enterprises; Book Publicists of Southern California; Books That Make You; Boss Girl Raye; C. S. Lewis Publicity; D.E.B. Method; Get Published Radio; Little Lion; Horror Writers Association; Independent Writers of Southern California; Just Us Books; MyStar95.com; Napox Photography; OwlCrate; RISE Brewing Company; Say it Loud Readers & Writers; Smashwords; The Skeptics Society; TVGuestpert Publishing; WannaBe Press; the Women’s National Book Association in Los Angeles; Veritkal Life Magazine and the Writers and Publishers Network (WPN).
The event’s hub will be the The BookFest website where visitors can find the live streams on the day of the event. It will stream through the Books That Make You Channel on YouTube and Facebook Page. Event hashtags include #TheBookFest and #TheBookFestFall2021 and social media for Black Château and Books That Make You will help spread the word.
‘The Butterfly House’ is Katrine Enngberg’s new novel and the sequel to “The Tenant.’ Photo: amazon
A former dancer and choreographer with a background in television and theater, Katrine Engberg launched a groundbreaking career as a novelist with the publication of her fiction debut, “The Tenant.” She is now one of the most widely read and beloved crime authors in Denmark, and her work has been sold in over twenty-five countries. Her new book “The Butterfly House” is the sequel to “The Tennant,” and has detectives Jeppe Kørner and Anette Werner race to solve a series of sordid murders linked to some of the most vulnerable patients in a Danish hospital. Read an excerpt here. (amazon,2021)
“The Butterfly House” – Hospitals are supposed to be places of healing. But in the coronary care unit at one of Copenhagen’s leading medical centers, a nurse fills a syringe with an overdose of heart medication and stealthily enters the room of an older male patient. Six days earlier, a paperboy on his route in central Copenhagen stumbles upon a macabre find: the naked body of a dead woman, lying in a fountain with arms marked with small incisions. Cause of death? Exsanguination—the draining of all the blood in her body. Clearly, this is no ordinary murder. Copenhagen investigator Jeppe Kørner, recovering from a painful divorce and in the throes of a new relationship, takes on the case. His partner, Anette Werner, now on maternity leave after an unexpected pregnancy, is restless at home with a demanding newborn and an equally demanding husband. While Jeppe pounds the streets looking for answers, Anette decides to do a little freelance sleuthing. But operating on her own exposes her to dangers she cannot even begin to fathom. As the investigation ventures into dark corners, it uncovers the ambition and greed that festers beneath the surface of caregiving institutions—all the more shocking for their depravity—and what Jeppe and Anette discover will turn their blood as cold as ice.
‘Threads of Yoga’ by Pamela Seelig will be released on Tuesday, September 28, 2021. Photo: amazon
Pamela Seelig is a yoga teacher based in New Jersey. She began her yoga and meditation journey in 1991 when an illness interrupted her Wall Street career. Along with helping her recovery, the impact of her meditation led to a lifelong pursuit of perceiving and sharing yogic wisdom through practice, teaching, and writing. She completed her teacher training in 2006 at Integral Yoga Institute in New York. Along with Hatha yoga, Pamela also studies Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and is a certified Raja Yoga instructor. Her new book “Threads of Yoga: Themes, Reflections, and Meditations to Weave into Your Practice” is a guide for students and teachers inspired by the Yoga Sutras. It will be released on Tuesday, September 28, 2021.
“Threads of Yoga” begins with an Introduction that explains how to use this book, the meaning behind the movement, going beyond the postures, and how the author began her journey into yoga and meditation. “The primary aim of yoga is to quiet the mind” because once the mind quiets down, the body experiences a heightened state of being. This is more than just a how-to book on yoga poses; it does not come with illustrations or pictures. It explains yoga’s deeper spiritual teachings to help people deepen and enliven their yoga practice. Each chapter introduces a foundational yogi theme followed by ways to put the chapter’s theme into practice in daily life with rituals, meditation, physical practices, and savasana (relaxation) as well as appropriate quotes to contemplate on that chapter’s theme. For those who practice yoga, they get a more in-depth look at yoga than they would in a normal class. For yoga teachers, this book will help them bring yoga wisdoms to their students without sounding preachy. The author makes it a point to reassure that the yoga concepts are not based on a religion, so anyone can benefit from them because the sole purpose of yoga is to quiet the mind. “Threads of Yoga” is divided into three parts: Part One: Themes and Practices Inspired by the Yoga Sutras, Part Two: The Yamas and the Niyamas, and Part Three: The Chakra System. There is a Resources and Recommended Reading section at the end that lists titles for further reading if readers are interested in learning more about the subjects the author has written about.
Yoga has become more mainstream in the past few years but it has also become commercialized. It is easy to just go through the various yoga poses and gain the benefits, but there is much more to yoga than just physical exercises. Yoga practitioners keep coming back because of the sense of peace that they feel at the end of every session. In “Threads of Yoga,” Pamela Seeling shares her own journey of discovering yoga’s more spiritual assets when after a successful career in Wall Street, she developed Bell’s Palsy and had to alter her way of life. She delved further into yoga and meditation to help her body heal. After becoming a yoga instructor, she eventually opened her own studio and wholeheartedly believes in the benefits of yoga and as someone who has benefitted from it, it gives her writing an authentic voice. She does not use complicated terms so the language is easy to understand and since the ‘Parts’ are clearly divided by topic it is easy to come back and re-read whichever sections need re-visiting. Some of the highlights include Chapter 10: Meditation which focuses on meditation: “It is said that anyone can do yoga poses, but only the strong can meditate” and Chapter 8: Silence where the focus is on how beneficial silence can be in the pursuit of peace and mind. “If we slow down, get quiet, and open our hearts, beautiful states of awareness are already there.” The background on yoga’s spiritual teachings is interesting, so even if readers do not practice yoga, this alone is worth reading up on. “Threads of Yoga” is an exceptionally useful guide and is ideal for yoga teachers and practitioners who want to connect with the spiritual wisdom of yoga and deepen their yoga experience. It is recommended for readers who yearn for a closer connection with yoga or are just interested in yoga’s more spiritual teachings.
“Many people today don’t necessarily embrace silence. We are generally more comfortable talking, managing, teaching, humming, or just about anything else. Silence implies emptiness, and that can be uncomfortable or even distressing. Yoga develops our ability to quiet the mind.”
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
‘The Burning’ is the new Clay Edison novel by Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman. Photo: amazon
Jonathan Kellerman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than forty crime novels, including the Alex Delaware series, “The Butcher’s Theater,” “Billy Straight,” “The Conspiracy Club,” “Twisted,” “True Detectives,” and “The Murderer’s Daughter.” With his wife, bestselling novelist Faye Kellerman, he co-authored “Double Homicide” and “Capital Crimes.” With his son, bestselling novelist Jesse Kellerman, he co-authored “Crime Scene,” “A Measure of Darkness,” “The Golem of Hollywood,” and “The Golem of Paris.” He is also the author of two children’s books and numerous nonfiction works, including “Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children” and “With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars.” He has won the Goldwyn, Edgar, and Anthony awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association, and has been nominated for a Shamus Award. Jesse Kellerman won the Princess Grace Award for best young American playwright and is the author of “Sunstroke,” “Trouble” (nominated for the ITW Thriller Award for Best Novel), “The Genius” (winner of the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle), “The Executor,” and “Potboiler” (nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel). In their new novel, “The Burning: A Novel (Clay Edison),” which will be released Tuesday, September 21, matters get personal for Deputy Coroner Clay Edison when a murder hits close to home. (amazon, 2021)
“The Burning” – A raging wildfire. A massive blackout. A wealthy man shot to death in his palatial hilltop home. For Clay Edison, it is all in a day’s work. As a deputy coroner, caring for the dead, he speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. He prides himself on an unflinching commitment to the truth. Even when it gets him into trouble. Then, while working the murder scene, Clay is horrified to discover a link to his brother, Luke. Horrified. But not surprised. Luke is fresh out of prison and struggling to stay on the straight and narrow. And now he has gone AWOL. The race is on for Clay to find him before anyone else can. Confronted with Luke’s legacy of violence, Clay is forced to reckon with his own suspicions, resentments, and loyalties. Is his brother a killer? Or could he be the victim in all of this, too? This is Jonathan and Jesse Kellerman at their most affecting and page-turning—a harrowing collision of family, revenge, and murder.
Coming up next week, September 26 through October 2 is Banned Books Week 2021. This year’s theme is “Books Unite Us. Censorship Divides Us.” Banned Books Weeks was established in 1982 in response to a sudden rise I the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores, and libraries. This event highlights the value of free and free access to information. It unites the community, including librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types, in their shared support of the freedom to seek and express ideas, even those that may be considered unorthodox or unpopular. (Banned Books Week, 2021)
By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles lists of challenged books as reported in the media and submitted by librarians and teachers across the country.
The Top 10 Challenged Books of 2020 are:
“George” by Alex Gino. Challenged, banned, and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint, and not reflecting “the values of our community.”
“Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds. Banned and challenged because of the author’s public statements and because of claims that the book contains “selective storytelling incidents” and does not encompass racism against all people.
“All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely.Banned and challenged for profanity, drug use, and alcoholism and because it was thought to promote antipolice views, contain divisive topics, and be “too much of a sensitive matter right now.”
“Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. Banned, challenged, and restricted because it was thought to contain a political viewpoint, it was claimed to be biased against male students, and it included rape and profanity.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee. Banned and challenged for racial slurs and their negative effect on students, featuring a “white savior” character, and its perception of the Black experience.
“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck. Banned and challenged for racial slurs and racist stereotypes and their negative effect on students.
“The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison. Banned and challenged because it was considered sexually explicit and depicts child sexual abuse.
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas. Challenged for profanity, and because it was thought to promote an antipolice message.
SA Examiner 