Posts Tagged ‘book’
Photography Paperback
Brief Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Briefs On:
Being Committed by Anna Maxted
Mouth to Mouth by Erin McCarthy
The Price of Desire by Leda Swann
Being Committed by Anna Maxted
British-born Anna Maxted’s first novel, “Getting Over It,” was more than semi-autobiographical. It was a thinly veiled memoir about the death of her father.
In that debut book, as well as in Maxted’s other novels, “Running in Heels” and “Behaving Like Adults,” Maxted manages to effectively depict the common misgivings in a long-term relationship gone stale.
Private investigator Hannah’s live-in boyfriend of five years, Jason, unexpectedly proposes and she finds she must … turn him down. A month later, after she learns he’s engaged to a neighbor, she has a change of heart. Jason agrees to resume their relationship and renew his proposal, but upon one stipulation. Hannah must find her first husband Jack and find out what went wrong (so the danger of it happening again decreases).
Maxted has proven herself a thought-provoking writer who delivers a layered story. Here, rather than offer up the standard boy-meets-girl-loses-her-gets-her-back, she gives her lead, Hannah, an opportunity to make right a wrong (and it’s not the one you might think it is). She’s also afforded a huge emotional epiphany that deals quite intensely with her family. “Being Committed” is great read, fun and thoughtful.
Mouth to Mouth by Erin McCarthy
Much lighter than the previously reviewed Anna Maxted novel, best-selling U.S. novelist Erin McCarthy’s “Mouth to Mouth” is a meet-cute story with a twist.
Laurel, who’s deaf, has grown up wealthy and sheltered. Although she still lives with her mother, she’s finally left alone while her mother is taking care of a relative.
Laurel takes advantage of the moment by bringing her on-line romance into reality. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s being prepped by her internet Lothario, a con man who has burned a path throughout the country, bilking young, innocent women.
But the con man makes the mistake of using the name of an actual local police detective, Russ, and when Laurel and Russ meet through a misunderstanding, the sparks fly. Russ is actually investigating the predatory thief who has plans to prey on Laurel.
Add Russ’ angry, 17-years-younger brother (who’s moved in with him after the unexpected death of their parents), Laurel’s fun and wild co-worker, and Russ’ old-school partner Jerry. This is a very light, non-challenging read that does fall into some trite romantic conventions. But McCarthy should be commended for her attempt at infusing her romance with a different element; in this case, a deaf heroine. Laurel isn’t cloying either and it’s easy to root for the couple’s relationship to develop and flourish.
The Price of Desire by Leda Swann
Ah, at last – a book that completely lives up to the old adage ” Don’t judge a book by its cover.” However, in this case, this book, available in a trade paperback, features a vintage (or faux vintage) black-and-white photograph and matte cover in muted shades of deep red and black.
All-in-all, it offers up what can only be described as a “classy” cover. However, the cover is deceptive — the book’s content is what only can be described as extremely graphic erotic fiction. For readers unfamiliar with the genre, it can be shocking.
The novel’s basic plotline (thin, as its obvious goal are the leads intimate encounters) tells the story about a young woman, Caroline Clemens, orphaned and left to bear her father’s debt.
As the oldest of six, and abandoned by her only hope for a “respectable” life by her fiancé at a party, she despairs and decides to opt for sibling-side and suicide with the gun her father used to end his life.
Later, at that same party (outside in the garden), she allows herself to be seduced by a wealthy rogue-with-a-heart-of-gold with the ridiculous name of Dominic Savage. When Caroline can’t go through with her death plan, her family is sent to the workhouse where they are separated and their health compromised.
When Dominic learns of her fate, he rushes to the workhouse and offers her his protection (basically, he’ll support everyone if she’ll be his courtesan).
There’s little more to the story (the inevitable ending is no surprise), but readers shouldn’t rely on the novel offer up any kind of historical accuracy. It initially reads like a Regency, then appears to be set in the Victorian era, when suddenly, on a vacation to Brighton, Caroline and Dominic have their photographs taken, which would put them in the latter part of the 19th century. But then, they’re actually given the photos immediately. Since instant photography (Polaroids) weren’t available until 1963, the actual period it is set is anyone’s guess.
Clearly, this is a novel specifically written for this defined, specific genre and readers interested in it. To anyone who “accidentally” comes across the book, it’s flowery and clichéd, humorless and has little-to-no resonance.
About the Author
Sammi loves curling up by her garden with a good book. She plants a large variety of vegetables such as tomato plants. She stakes up her plants with tomato cages to keep them from drooping on the ground and getting diseases.
Rick Sammon’s Digital Photography Secrets [Paperback]
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Ashod Simonian: Real Fun: Polaroids from the Independent Music Landscape $2.69 Ever wonder what indie rockers on tour do for the other 23 hours of their day? Real Fun answers that question with over 100 photographs of musicians lounging in the giant green room that is the world–sleeping, eating, fishing and just goofing off. Photographer Ashod Simonian has traveled with scores of bands, and his dreamy, lush Polaroids capture Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Sleater Kinney, Pavem… |
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On the Wall: Four Decades of Community Murals in New York City $24.59 Energizing the visual landscape since 1968, New York City’s community murals beautify, educate, protest, celebrate, and often motivate residents to action. Collaborations between artists and neighborhood groups, these painted walls reflect the social, cultural, and political climate of their times. The result of six years of research and hundreds of interviews, On the Wall brings to light murals t… |
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Science Content Picture Dictionary, Grades K-5 (English/Spanish) Paperback $3.48 Offer students user-friendly access to the most common content area vocabulary in life, Earth, physical and space science lessons.- Supports research-based best practice of direct vocabulary instruction as a means of developing background knowledge needed for success on standardized tests- Features 168 words with definitions in English and Spanish, alphabetized by English entry- Provides full-colo… |
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Digital Memories: Scrapbooking with Your Computer $2.99 Revolutionize your Scrapbook! With Digital Memories: Scrapbooking with Your Computer, you can bring the beauty of your family treasures to family and friends across the globe with digital scrapbooks or intensify your traditional scrapbooking techniques with enhanced digital artistry and new ways to create special effects. Carla Rose, photographer and best-selling Photoshop author, shows you how to… |
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DVD Studio Pro 2 Solutions $5.41 Create Hollywood-Quality DVDs on a Small-Business BudgetWith DVD Studio Pro 2, Apple introduced a completely rewritten DVD authoring program at a fraction of its original price. Powerful and full-featured, DVD Studio Pro 2 offers a wealth of sophisticated tools that let you build your own professional-quality DVDs.DVD Studio Pro 2 Solutions offers expert instruction in putting this complex tool to… |
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The Complete Guide to Sonys NEX 3, C3, 5, and 5N Mirrorless Digital Cameras (B&W Edition) $41.34 Love your NEX camera, but having a hard time understanding all that it does? Not happy with the quality of your pictures? Then this book is for you. This easy-to-understand guide provides a complete instruction manual which explains each feature in plain English and provides hundreds of visual examples. In this book you’ll learn: * What every mode, button and function does in plain language. * The… |
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Nikon School: Guide Book to Digital SLR Photography Paper Back Edition $1.99 Nikon School Guide to SLR Photography, Paperback edition. This book covers the basics of Digital SLR Photography. Including Getting to know your camera, The Lens, Shutter Speed, Aperture Control, Exposure Fundamentals, Light Metering, Flash Photography and more. It has several interactive Exercises to enhance the learning experience. Paperback: 75 pages |
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The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 4 Book for Digital Photographers $23.99 Since Lightroom first launched, Scott Kelby’s The Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers has been the world’s #1 best-selling Lightroom book. In this latest version for Lightroom 4, Scott uses his same step-by-step, plain-English style and layout to make learning Lightroom easy and fun. Scott doesn’t just show you which sliders do what, and he doesn’t just cover the newest features of Lightroom … |
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Photo Inspiration: Secrets Behind Stunning Images $22.12 The inspiration you need to help improve your photography skillsWell-known for their stunning world-class photography, 1x.com has worked with their most talented photographers to handpick 100 awe-inspiring images and provided the back-story and photographer’s secrets that helped capture them. This book presents you with inspiration as well as underlying techniques that can help improve your photog… |
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Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera $11.49 With more than 350,000 copies sold, Understanding Exposure has demystified the complex concepts of exposure for countless photographers. Now updated with current technologies, more than one hundred new images, and an all-new chapter, this new edition will inspire you more than ever to free yourself from “auto” and create the pictures you truly want. In his trademark easy-to-understand … |
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