Messages
By Forrest Carr
(CreateSpace, $17.99)
Forrest Carr’s debut novel takes the reader into his more than 30 years of local newsroom experience.
Dialogue in this book is amazingly clever, fast paced, sophisticated and at times extremely raunchy, but always thoroughly entertaining. There is much to enlighten those of us who have no idea of how newsrooms function and how people who work there interact with each other (often with a huge dose of back stabbing and dysfunction). And if that’s not enough, Carr throws down the gauntlet by adding a murder mystery to the mix for his gentle readers to unravel. Carr writes very compelling fiction.
A Journal of the Crazy Year
By Forrest Carr
(CreateSpace, $13.99)
If someone told me I would like this or any other book about an apocalypse, I would insist that he or she was wrong. But in this highly original novel apocalypse meets “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and the confrontation is fascinating. While reading it you will laugh out loud, be horrified, scared, ponder the meaning of life and maybe even cry a little.
John’s and Maria’s marriage is tested by the strange new disease he has contracted that lands him in a mental hospital with no memory of the last three years or how he ended up in the institution. The disease causes people to fall asleep and sometimes never wake up or they may be aroused and become extremely violent.
Meanwhile everybody is worried about the comet that is expected to hit Earth and cause chaos and mayhem. The cover wonderfully illustrates some of the many interesting themes in this book. The book is a roller- coaster ride with a controversial ending that this reader thoroughly enjoyed.
Safe corners
By Jane Pailas-Kimball
(Healing from the Heart Publishing, $13.99)
With an interesting juxtaposition of prim faithfulness and a cynical viewpoint expressed quite graphically, Pailas-Kimball’s main character, Christina, chronicles the unraveling of her marriage and explores the possibilities that come with her subsequent new life.
The loss of her first child is the turning point in her marriage and this event is surrounded by miscommunication and deceit, but it does lead to her unexpected second child and the creative opportunities in her new life. “Healing from the Heart” is an aptly named publishing company for this title that demonstrates the power of hope, faith and friendship, notwithstanding the worst of life circumstances.
Big Blue
By Gail Bornfield
(Amazon Digital Services, Inc. $8 paper; $2.99 digital)
Tucson author Gail Bornfield offers a whale of a tale for upper-elementary and middle school readers that takes them across the Arizona desert to California and the Pacific Ocean. When Grandma surprises Caleb and Sergio with a whale-watching expedition, their amazement at the curious denizens of the deep turns to horror when they overhear poachers who are planning to kill a whale. What can they do to stop them? With a narrative that combines travel, adventure and deep sea lore Bornfield, a former educator, delivers a story that will engage young naturalists.
Unprocessed: My City-dwelling year of Reclaiming Real food
By Megan Kimble
(HarperCollins Publishers, $15.99)
Megan Kimble, managing editor of “Edible Baja Arizona” was a University of Arizona graduate student with a consuming interest in where her food came from when she decided to spend a year eating off the grid. Eschewing all comestibles that were boxed, shrink-wrapped, frozen, enriched, pasteurized, presweetened, shipped long distances or in any way processed, she instead consumed only locally-sourced food, creating meals that were additive-, preservative- and manipulation-free. “Unprocessed” is her record of the sometimes complicated business of eating simply.
With each chapter Kimble illustrates a step in her process of relearning food preparation, including grinding her own flour and harvesting salt from evaporated sea water. She shares her (sometimes harrowing) experiences with gardening, canning and even slaughtering as well as lessons she learns from beekeepers and brewers. With a journalist’s eye she provides fascinating food history and offers a well-informed perspective on how we can take back the business of feeding ourselves from the corporations.
At the tender heart of this enlightening and often surprising book are Kimble’s gracefully-rendered personal recollections. At times they are humorous (an unintended consequence of eating unprocessed is the crimp it puts in date night) but more often they are evocative as she spins out memories of cooking with friends and relatives and sharing meals. “Unprocessed” is a very satisfying read sure to delight a local audience.
Empty Arms: Coping with Miscarriage, stillbirth,
and infant death
By Sherokee Ilse
(Wintergreen Press, Inc. $12.95)
The loss of an unborn child or newborn baby is an event that expectant parents rarely anticipate, and most are unprepared to deal with the unthinkable. Sherokee Ilse offers a helpful and compassionate approach to coping with the death of a baby, with calming advice on topics that include decisions that must be made in the hospital, one’s rights as a bereaved parent, notifying friends and family, funeral services and more. Of particular interest are chapters addressing the forms grieving can take in the weeks and months following bereavement.
Ilse, who lives in Oro Valley, draws examples from her own experiences of loss and lessons learned, giving this informative volume a voice that is sincere and caring. Also available in Spanish as “Brazos Vacios,” translated by Helda Pinzon de perez and Miguel A. Perez.
Whisked Away
By Yolanda Martinez
(Self published. No price available.)
In her youth, Yolanda Martinez wasn’t particularly interested in her family history. Luckily, her mother was, and her persistence in recounting the family lore to her daughter paid off handsomely. Martinez can trace her family back to 1729 in San Lorenzo, Sonora, Mexico, and in this self-published work she has created a record of the information her mother handed down.
When those stories ran out, Martinez herself took up the mantle of both memoirist and genealogist, sharing her life story and bringing her family’s history up to the present day. With names, dates, places, photos, and even quotes from 100+ year-old-letters, “Whisked Away” illustrates the evolution of a Tucson family.
