Welcome to the August 2010 Print Edition of GalleyCat Reviews
GalleyCat Reviewsfeatures daily book review content, including book reviews,excerpted book reviews from select review outlets, and curated posts linking to the best book reviews on the web. The reviews are written by a mix of professional reviewers and passionate readers in the GalleyCat community.If you are a publicist looking to submit books to GalleyCat reviews, please email your pitches tothis new email address. We are accepting pitches for new books in any genre, but we will only be able to review a fraction of the suggested titles.Want to read more? Check out these links:GalleyCat Reviews February 2010 Print(out) Edition GalleyCat Reviews March 2010 Print(out) Edition GalleyCat Reviews April 2010 Print(out) Edition GalleyCat Reviews May 2010 Print(out) Edition GalleyCat Reviews June 2010 Print(out) Edition GalleyCat Reviews July 2010 Print(out) Edition Best Book Reviewers on Twitter List.
Hana Samek Norton & The Sixth Surrender Reviewed
Reviewed byLouise Leetch As a lifelong admirer of Eleanor of Aquitaine, I'm always excited to seea book about her and her remarkable family.
The Sixth Surrender
, anovel by
Hana Samek Norton
, focuses on her son, King John, whoacceded to the throne of England after his brother Richard I and father,Henry II.Author Norton chooses a minor player, Juliana de Charnais, as a link tothe machinations of Alienor (the French spelling used by the author), her son and the nasty oldLusignan dynasty. If you've avoided the morescholarly tomes about thePlantagenets, this is just the book for you.It's light and simple and the players are easy to keep track of by the author's animateddescriptions. Norton scrupulously delivers her 13th century history characters well woveninto a story that's sure to tantalize the casual reader to press on to a bit more serioushistory.Armand de Lusignan and his family suffered enough degradation under the rule of KingsHenry and Richard, they were not about to put up with John 'Softsword' and his attemptto destroy them. John usurped a pending alliance by marrying Isabelle of Angouleme.Juliana's marriage to Guerin de Lasalle saves her from the convent and makes him beholden to the queen. However, all is not well in the arranged marriage, as any reader of historical romance would know. Luckily, Norton doesn't dwell on the usual attempts atseduction and rather focuses on King John's quarrels with Philip Augustus of France.John's nephew, Arthur of Brittany, has aligned himself with Philip and the Lusignans totry to wrest the crown he feels should be his. Of course, Philip and Armand de Lusignanhave plans of their own. Guerin de Lasalle proves to be John's best weapon to preservehis Norman holdings, easily re-taking the fortress of Mirbeau away from the haplessArthur.
Louise Leetch
divides her time between Chicago and Wisconsin. Bothhouses are just crammed with books. She collects her reviews on her GoodReads page.
Should Writers Pay for Book Reviews?
critiqued the new $149PW Selectprogram for self- published authors--generating a healthy debate about paid book reviews.Strauss'informative essayexplored "sponsored review programs" at other book review outlets, including
,
, and
. Her article concluded: "Is it ever worthwhile to buy a review? Not in myopinion. With independent paid review services, quality can be a problem; plus, there are plenty of non-professional book review venues out there that will review for free."In the comments section,
publisher Victoria Sutherland mounted aspirited defense: "What the three of us (PW, Kirkus, ForeWord) have to offer that we areasking you to support now is: our brand, which still actually means something tolibrarians and booksellers who want a robust, quality 400 word critical review of your books curated by a team of experts we have spent years culling. These reviews arevaluable enough to be licensed by the top wholesaler databases serving the book tradeincluding Bowker, Baker & Taylor, Ingram and more. This kind of exposure ALONE isworth the fee to any publishers."She continued: "ForeWord was the original fee for review service, introduced in 2003 tothe outrage of the entire publishing community. In fact we were lampooned in a cartoonon the cover of Kirkus who shortly thereafter fell into similar economic challenges andhad a change of heart about providing reviews for cash. PW seems to be taking babysteps into the process, but it won't be long before they commit fully to the concept."ThisGalleyCat Reviewseditor called Sutherland to confirm her comments, and sheadded these thoughts: "In the literary world, free (poverty) seems to have been the onlycriteria for integrity. Yet, people happily pay doctors and lawyers for a diagnosis--plentyof conflict there to enourage clients to come back for more. What critics of our pay for service miss is what they accept about lawyers and doctors - namely that reputationmeans a lot to a professional--and the path to your door will grow weeds fast when you prove to be a sellout." (ViaSelf Publishing Review
)Don't forget you can share your book with GalleyCat readers through our new Facebook page.Follow these simple directionsto list your book in our New Books section.
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