Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio

• Rated 5 stars

“Sandra Balzo's Maggy Thorsen Mysteries


I thought I like to take a moment here and talk about a cozy mystery book series I started reading: Sandra Balzo's Maggy Thorsen Mysteries.
I first must admit I have a reading list: jotted down titles, authors and even one character name on it, which I had crossed out long ago having forgotten what book or author it was linked to. This forgettable list is on three ringed looseleaf notebook paper, folded, smudged, crinkled up and barely any room left other than the margin to add another title to, and is tucked on the end of my favorite mystery bookshelf in my livingroom.
When I started the list, (probably two decades ago now,) I had the books listed in the order they were to be bought and read. Very simple: first come, first read. And over the years it has come to the unfortunate truth that books on my list, no matter who the author might be, stand little chance of being read. You see, I'm more apt to pick up a book and just decide to read it there and then rather than check the old thing on the shelf. Unfortunitely, one of the Maggy Thorsen mystery series books was on the list.
I don't usually buy the list's contenders up front. However, it must have been a couple of years ago that I did pick up one of them: Brewed, Crude and Tattooed by Sandra Balzo! And so it was on an early fall day that I looked over my bookselves and there it was, like new and unread.
I enjoy fall weather and, I actually look forward to snow, as long as I don't have to drive in it. The thoughts of a nice snow storm to keep us home and comfy was all I needed to sit down and join the occupants of the Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse and wait out the storm.
I was not disappointed. All Sandra Balzo's characters are 'real.' I find the author has a unique insight into human nature and relationships which she weaves into fast pace and shrewd plots that kept me racing through the story. And I can imagine knowing the people in Maggie's town of Brookhills as a place I could live. And if a person or two gets bump off in every book, well, it would just help weed out the trouble makers.
Maggy Thorsen is a well form—believable character, and it never fails that Maggy's flippant and saucy thoughts and banter move these stories along making you smile and laugh. Just wait for them! You won't be disappointed.
I love how Maggie see her relationship with Sheriff Jake Pavlik. Though he is a little standoffish for me and I'd like nothing better than to smack the back of his head once in a while to wake him up. And Frank. He's you 'every person's dog.'
I have since read From The Grounds UP: ANOTHER delight!
My apologies to Ms. Balzo for adding her book to my list and my thanks to her. I love her books and have plans to get ALL her others.
NO, I won't be adding Ms. Balzo's other titles to the margin of my reading list!

http://sandybalzo.com/

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0727867350/ref=as_li_ss_til?tag=sandbalzmyst-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as4&creativeASIN=0727867350&adid=165K0PFH4X1JB5KQXY6E

http://www.amazon.com/Grounds-Up-Maggy-Thorsen-Mysteries/dp/1847512038/ref=la_B00BMVZR7M_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1363714196&sr=1-5

http://sandybalzo.com/brewed-crude-and-tattooed/”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Wednesday, March 20, 2013. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Delightful and explains to children just what the BIG D is all about.”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Friday, August 3, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Review of ‘Leftovers’ written by Arthur Wooten


LEFTOVERS is anything but leftovers! From beginning to end it has a neatly skilled and clever plot twist. You certainly don’t need to have lived in 1950s America to enjoy this novel. The settings and mores are all there for you to see in this well-written story about life as it was back then.
No matter what decades you’ve live through you might have experience some of what Vivian has. Through a mix of drama and comedy you see Vivian, a sweet and kind person, rise above all that threatens to keep her down including marital problems and a heartless mother, come to realize she needs to do what she needs to do to control her own life and make it what she wants it to be.
We all know someone like her or have been where she has been, and like all of us, Vivian needs a good friend or two for support. She finds no better friends than the brother and sister duo of Stew and Babs. Babs is always ahead of the game and willing to share her knowledge with her childhood friend. While Stew just might be the right guy for Vivian. At first I didn’t think Stew was the right guy, but slowly, long before Vivian knew, I came to see that he was a perfect one for her.
Having read other stories by this author I have to say again Arthur Wooten knows storytelling.

~JD Holiday”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Monday, March 26, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Sammy the Sun was miserable because he lost his shine. He didn’t know what to do to get it back. Jimmy the spaceship told him about a pep-me-up drink and promise to bring some to Sammy.
Jenny the spaceship came by next and she said Sammy needed polish and she would bring some back to him. Then Jenny flew off too. Lastly, Johnny the spaceship came along and said Sammy needed new paint and he would bring some along the next time he came by.
Sammy wasn’t sure any of these things would help get back his shine. It all sounds so
confusing to him. Sammy waited and waited a long time for them all to return. He began to think they forgot all about him.
But all three did returned and they did help Sammy, but in an very unexpected way!

Pep, Polish and Paint is a delightfully clever story with an important message for children on how some things come from within us! Helena Harper uses her skill as a teacher to develop this charming fantasy all children will love. Malachy McKinney’s illustrations are engaging and imaginative.

Children’s worksheets and coloring sheets are available at www.helenaharper.com
You can learn more about Helena Harper at: www.helenaharper.com
~ Author and Illustrator, J.D. Holiday
”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Friday, February 24, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Young teen, Jamie Reynolds’ father does an illegal business deal which turns Jamie’s world into turmoil. Ashamed to face his so called friends and gossiping neighbors, Jamie and his mother need to get away and head for comforting surroundings of his grandparent’s home for what they hope is a peaceful Christmas.
Grandma’s decorations for Christmas include a miniature village from 1932 and Jamie’s mother tells him the story about the village and it’s earlier time and place.
He wishes he could go and live in this truly enchanted time where no one knew his problem.
Late one night he hears the voice of a young girl and finds the two children in the village scene in trouble on its miniature pond. Jamie quickly moves to save these tiny characters who have amazingly come to life and he finds himself physically drawn right into the small village of Canterbury. Jamie has a remarkable adventure, but it’s not long before his wishes to be back in his own time with his mother and grandparents.
The Christmas Village is a story for everyone! It is a well written story which moves and intertwines through the character’s history together. This story is destine to become a Christmas classic and will make a wonderful Christmas movie.
~ JD Holiday ”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Friday, February 24, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“UGLY TO START WITH tells the story of a teenage boy, Jason Stevens whose life is anything but comfortable. His family is not well-off, not unlike many of the people around them in Harbors Ferry. Jason is sometimes treated unfairly by those around him. His mother is kind and guiding, but his father is eccentric and callous towards Jason.
The author has made Jason a vivid character. You see his curiosity lead him into new and even foreign experiences where he stays for the excitement. He learns the hard truths from the imperfections of others about life itself. He is smart enough to realize he is not much better than his abusers when he does to them or others what was done to him. I enjoyed this book immensely, yet cringed at Jason’s sometimes harsh reality. At other times it was like being there with him through my own upbringing. By the end I felt sure that Jason would find his way in life.
I love short stories and writing them myself. I enjoy the challenge of compacting all that is needed to tell one. Through this collection of short stories, John Michael Cummings has a well written and memorable novel.
This book is not for everyone because of some risky subjects. A good read for adults.
~ Author and Illustrator JD Holiday
http://jdswritersblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/review-of-ugly-to-start-with-by-john.html”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Friday, February 10, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Wise Bear William is the captain of the attic where worn out toys wait for children to come for them. The Campbell’s have an old family tradition. For generations, their children come to the attic to choose one toy to love. When the children grow up the toys are sent back to the attic.
When the toys hear the children coming, Rag Doll Rose, Bean Bag Bunny and Calico Kitty depend on Wise Bear William to get them ready. The captain would use everything in the attic to mend them and tell them all he knows about what makes a child love a toy. They have one chance to be a child’s best friend. But there is one thing that they can’t do anything about: not everyone will be picked. The toys begin to get ready replacing missing eyes, propping up droopy ears and mending all rips and tears.
Wise Bear William’s words of wisdom that it’s what is on the inside that counts, and everyone is special ring true for not only the toys but for the book’s readers as well. This is a sweet, charming and humorous story!
WISE Bear William: A New Beginning! is well written and the illustrations are vivid and beautiful. It’s an entertaining story for its readers of all ages that includes a lesson about compassion, remembering promises and helping others and it’s what is on the inside the matters the most. You will laugh and cry with these lovable characters. I read it with my six year-old, grandson and I had tears in my eyes too!
Arthur Wooten is no novice at storytelling being a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright.. His novels include Birthday Pie, and On Picking Fruit, and Fruit Cocktail. The wonderful pictures are by award-winning designer and illustrator, Bud Santora.

~Author, J.D. Holiday

Reviewed by Author and Illustrator J.D. Holiday
http://www.thebookgarden.net”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Saturday, January 21, 2012. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Loved this story and Sandra Balzo sense of humor.”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Saturday, October 29, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“I admit I had expectations about Michael Dibdin's books with Aurelio Zen as the main character.,
I had been introduced to Aurelio Zen in the PBS Masterpiece Mystery series and loved all the characters which led me to buy other books in the series. In Cosi Fan Tutti, I was disappointed.
In general this story was a good one. Zen is a police inspector who tries to enforce the law in Naples, Italy where crime is part of every level of the police department.

I love the Aurelio Zen character who basically solves crime by stumbling into its resolution.

In this story I feel there was too much use of `tell' not' show.' Much of what the reader learns is from a narrative by the author in many areas where a scene would have been so much more enjoyable.

Though Zen's double identity comes off well, many other characters also have dual identities that are unknown to the reader and fall short of what the reader already believes about them.

I found, on the other hand, the end was somewhat disjointed and ran on longer than it should have.

This all said, I do enjoy Dibdin's wit and style of writing. Readers can feel the atmosphere and want to keep turning the pages. I will surely read other books in the Aurelio Zen series.

~J.D. Holiday ”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Saturday, October 29, 2011. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 5 stars

“Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and Rule the World~MuAhahahaha!!! :IN A NUT SHELL!

If you are a kid who would love to rule the world this is the book for you! I’m not a kid, (okay, I am one at heart,) I laughed and smiled the whole way through this tongue-in-cheek book, HOW TO GROW UP AND RULE THE WORLD, Vordak The Incomprehensible.
Vordak The Incomprehensible , Mu Ahahahaha!!! Is a world-class Supervillian and your instructor to begin learning how to rule the world. Without Vordak you will not make it. PERIOD!

You as a lowly troglodyte (inferior human or caveman as Wikipedia calls it,) have to prove yourself and come up through the ranks by being humiliated and demeaned often by your tyrant and supervillian of a teacher, Vordak. While teaching Vordak finds ways to try and make you out to be an imbecile which is all done in fun as well as so that superheros everywhere should beware of you once you have graduated to supervillian and are RULING THE WORLD!

To become this supervillian you have to learn: Vordak The Incomprehensible’s fifteen mind-numbing commandments of incomprehensibility, his step by step villainous instructions, how to interact with underlings, learn who your arch-nemesis is, (everyone has on!) through a dossier of superheros so you will know them when you see them. And learn why it’s the same thing for bad guys to wear bright colors costumes or eat a bucket of nails. Everybody knows no-good-doers ONLY wear black and other shades of black! You will also learn what the world’s biggest loser really means.
Besides costumes, helmets and many other things you will need at else one strongman; one with wings is best!

It all comes to an end with the six mistakes to avoid making when issuing an ultimatum which is so cute, (YES CUTE!) and we discover that in truth, no superheros are REALLY ever harmed.

This just might be a book to help a reluctant reader appreciate reading and even pick up a dictionary to enjoy the book more. I think the reading level should be for kids in the 10 to 13 age range. There are a few pranks in it that just might get younger children into hot water.

The book is REALLY written by Scott Seegert, flows well and keeps the comical laughter coming to the end. The illustrations by John Martin are part of the fun and charm of the book making you laugh harder and help move the story along.

THAT's IT In A NUT SHELL!
J.D. Holiday
”

Author J.D. Holiday - host of It's Story Time at BlogTalk Radio wrote this review Wednesday, May 4, 2011. ( reply | permalink )