Review 26-28 LLBR’s Search for America

Shannon Yarbrough — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 00:00:19 +0000

Well, here it is folks. Few people answered our call, so we were forced to search Lulu for America on our own. In celebration of our independence as a nation, as a people, as authors, the Lulu Book Review was in search of that one Lulu book that embodies America and its freedoms.

We did keyword searches for things like “apple pie” and “red, white, and blue.” We read preview after preview, and finally narrowed the search down to 3 Lulu books which we believe best represent the type of book we were looking for. So, here they are in no particular order. An American celebration of POD books…

Open America
by Kristin Abraham
Copyright: © 2007
$34.99 Paperback
$5.00 Ebook

In 2005 artist Abraham and her musician husband set out across the country determined to visit all 50 states, attempting to unite the country through art, a journey they called The Nomadic Project. They worked out of their car and Abraham created a painting in each state to capture its essence and beauty.

This book is a collection of all 50 paintings accented with entries from her travel journal. If you love a good coffee table book or you are a travel enthusiast, this book offers some nice insight to our beautiful country. There are local backroads here you’ll want to see for yourself one day!

6333 Miles – A Strange Journey Through Small Town America
by Nico Ammann and Rebecca Barkin
Copyright: © 2008
$34.90 Hardcover
$9.90 E-Book
ISBN: 9780615206899

Yep, this is another travel story, but instead of all 50 states we are treated to the backroads of only 5 small towns across the southern US starting in Jerome, Arizona, going down to Luckenbach, Texas; then crossing over to New Orleans, up to Clarksdale, Mississippi, and ending in the outer banks of North Carolina. This is a haunting travel log reminiscent of great southern lit geniuses such as Truman Capote and Flannery O’Connor, accompanied by odd angle photographs of the local sites and local folk.

I think I was drawn to this book, not just because of the brilliant cover depicting the familiar blinking arrow sign (often missing letters in the true south, if teenagers haven’t rearranged the letters to spell bad words), but because there is a part of me in this book. Being from Tennessee, I know these places. I know these people, and I know this dirt roads. Just as the back cover suggests….bikers, bibles, and bad decisions. With a touch of murder mystery, some downhome fried cooking, and those strange front porch banjo playing strangers who you are afraid to ask for directions, this book is a brilliant rebel flag waving farce.

4th of July Recipes
by Timm Miller
Copyright: © 2008
$6.95 E-Book

Besides sparklers and bottle rockets, the 4th of July for me as a kid meant barbecue and watermelon. It wouldn’t be an American holiday without the food, right? That’s why I’ve chosen Timm Miller’s 4th of July Recipes as my third “America” highlight.

There’s a nice history of Independence Day for an introduction, followed by Red, White, and Blue Pie, baby back ribs, macaroni salad, and much more, and that’s just in the preview.

Your picnic table will be overflowing with yummy treats and hot eats from this book. Many of our holidays follow traditions. Each of our families have their own when it comes to certain events, and many of those holidays and traditions would not be complete without certain comfort foods. Miller does an excellent job of helping you to try new simple recipes, and maybe create some new traditions of you own. Check out his bookstore for more of those cool 3D covers too!

So that’s it! Yeah, these three books focus mainly on travel and food, but it doesn’t get more American than that, does it?

Review 4: My New-Found Land

Shannon Yarbrough — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 02:51:42 +0000

My New-Found Land

by Ann Pino

521 Pages

$6.00 E-book

$14.95 Paperback

What draws us to the personal diaries of others? Remember reading Anne Frank’s back in high school? While recently on vacation, I picked up a brochure type stapled printing of a Civil War diary a woman had self-published and made available in a local gift shop. I was immediately drawn into it on page one. Having just finished Ann Pino’s superb Lulu book, My New-Found Land, I yearned for more of the personal and intimate writings of others. Although Pino’s book is of a fictional nature, it reads as the diary of her central character, Diana Channing.

Diana is a tough eighteen year old girl surviving a world at war that has depleted its natural resources. She’s had a military background since she was just thirteen years old. She’s also been married but in love with someone else. The journey that we follow her on through her journal is the trek from New Mexico to Kentucky as she sets out with her horse to find her destiny. Pino does an excellent job of building suspense because we are right on the page with Diana as she is writing her journal. She does not know what lies ahead as she records each day, and neither does the reader.

The book has great character itself because each day in the diary is introduced with a picture that Diana has either taken or drawn. Pino has done an excellent “photoshop” job to make some of the pictures look like actual charcoal drawings, which adds great depth to the story. As we journal or blog in real life today, we tend to “tell” our story rather than “show” it to the reader. In most private cases, we are our own reader so details are left out as we hurry to get the story out. There’s no need for great detail because we are just writing them down as a way for us to remember the events the best we can. The added photos to this book make for a nice balance of show vs. tell since this book is written in diary form.

There were some entries that I got bored with, but not enough to make me want to put the book down and walk away. As I probably would with my own journal or diary, I did skip around to the good parts. As each day is a new adventure for the author’s protagonist, it is also for the reader. If I chose to rush through an entry that wasn’t holding my interest, I definitely didn’t feel lost. Despite the length of this work, it is a fast paced read that kept me intrigued.

Don’t let Diana’s age discourage you from reading this if you prefer an older central character. Pino weaves a very mature tale, in which Diana has probably experienced too much in life and has had to grow up fast. She’s definitely a character that many of us can relate to. Horse lovers will love Flecha, Diana’s four-legged companion. The diary entries are also filled with other deep characters that Diana encounters on her journey. Seeing them from Diana’s perspective alone will definitely keep you guessing.

Female readers will cheer for the strong protagonist and relish the romantic plot lines. Male readers would enjoy the setting and the “western-like” feel of this story. Ann Pino has definitely penned an extensive piece with great care and consideration to her characters and plot. This is yet another great POD read which I hope will find a bloodline amongst traditional publishers. Treat yourself to the download alone and read this one on paper like old diary pages you’ve found in a dusty trunk in Grandma’s attic, or support this author and add the paperback to your bookshelf collection. Either way, you will not be disappointed.

Bravo, Ann, for this breathtaking journey. Excellent prose! In-depth characters! A highly developed setting and an intricate plot that kept this reader reading!

The LL Book Review » journal

Review 26-28 LLBR’s Search for America

Review 4: My New-Found Land