franciscovazbrasil: junho 2011

The Tender Mercy of Roses by Anna Michaels

The Tender Mercy of Roses by Anna Michaels

Description

While the body of rodeo star Pony Jones lies motionless in the northern Alabama woods, her spirit is on a mission to find her killer. Invisible to the eye but not to the sixth sense, the only thing Pony can do is guide the living to the truth.

Her grief-stricken father, Titus, wants nothing more than retribution for his daughter's death, so when former police detective Jo Beth Dawson comes to town, something compels him to seek out her help.

But when Jo Beth and Titus team up to track down Pony's murderer, it turns loose a whirlwind of intense emotion and unexpected encounters. As they uncover more and more clues leading them to the killer, dark family secrets are revealed and the two must search their souls for redemption.

Praise

"The Tender Mercy of Roses is an unforgettable story told with astonishing skill and clarity by a truly gifted writer."

-- Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides

"The Tender Mercy of Roses is an enchanting blend of the supernatural, mystery, and southern charm. Anna Michael's debut novel has magical moments of insight that took my breath away!" - Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author

"The Tender Mercy of Roses is an unforgettable story told with astonishing skill and clarity by a truly gifted writer."

-- Pat Conroy, author of The Prince of Tides

"Like the most healing of our dreams, Anna Michaels slowly unfolds a heart-mending story.The Tender Mercy of Roses moves in and out of the unseen places of the soul, exposing a magical story. Surprising wisdom startles the reader in the midst of a narrative both lyrical and powerful." - Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times Bestselling author

"I devoured this thrilling page-turner, absolutely hooked until the final scene, then went back to read again passages so lovely I wanted to savor them more fully. Now I'm spreading the word---this one is a treasure!" --Cassandra King, author of The Same Sweet Girls

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Tender-Mercy-of-Roses/Anna-Michaels/9781439180990

Empire of the Summer Moon By S. C. Gwinne

Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

Description

In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.

S. C. Gwynne's Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun.

The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne's exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being.

Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend.

S. C. Gwynne's account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.

Empire of the Summer Moon

September 5, 2010

"Gwynne writes in an interesting, yet factual style. In doing so, he shows respect for the reader and the subjects of his study.

The inescapable conclusion is that wild, raiding indians were incompatible with the survival of white settlers and other indians living around them.

Further, one cannot read Gwynne's work without gaining a tremendous respect for Quanah. His intelligence, social skill and post reservation practicality were impressive.

Finally, I appreciated Gwynne's work related to Mackenzie. His contrast with Custer showed the best of the military man of the times.

Well done."

Praise

"Transcendent . . . Empire of the Summer Moon is nothing short of a revelation . . . will leave dust and blood on your jeans."

-- New York Times Book Review

"In Empire of the Summer Moon, Sam Swynne has given us a rich, vividly detailed rendering of an important era in our history and of two great men, Quanah Parker and Ranald Slidel Mackenzie, whose struggles did much to define it."

-Larry McMurtry

"Man for man, the Comanches were the fiercest and most resourceful warriors in North America, and they held onto their domain with an almost otherworldly tenacity. In this sweeping work, S.C. Gwynne recreates the Comanche's lost world with gusto and style--and without sentimentality. After reading Empire of the Summer Moon, you'll never think about Texas, or the Great Plains, in quite the same way again."

-- Hampton Sides, author of Blood and Thunder and Hellhound On His Trail

http://books.simonandschuster.com/Empire-of-the-Summer-Moon/S-C-Gwynne/9781416591061?intcmp=ibh_bb&cp_date=ibh_bb_t1

American Outlaw by Jesse James

American Outlaw by Jesse James

Description

Jesse James has led a violent life.

He has survived lower depths, faced harder times, and beaten down more private demons than most—and lived to tell his story with honesty, introspection, and humility. His story is raw, real, and comes straight from the heart. He's tough as nails and riding hard through life, with plenty of wisdom to share about taking a hit and coming back up. In American Outlaw, Jesse reveals all: from his volatile upbringing and troubled relationship with his father to his wild days of car thieving and juvenile detention; from knocking heads as a rock 'n' roll bodyguard to his destructive drinking and barroom brawling; from building an empire from the ground up with his own two hands to marriages marked with both happiness and gut-wrenching pain; from living inside the hottest level of paparazzi hell to rehab and making peace with his past. This is the self-portrait of a flawed but determined everyman: rebel, outlaw, gear head, artist, entrepreneur, lost son, and fiercely committed father. Jesse James is everything you imagined him to be—and more than you ever expected.

http://books.simonandschuster.com/American-Outlaw/Jesse-James/9781451627855?intcmp=ibh_bb&cp_date=ibh_bb_t3

If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't), by Betty White

Summary

An Excerpt from If You Ask Me

It-girl Betty White delivers a hilarious, slyly profound take on love, life, celebrity, and everything in between.

Drawing from a lifetime of lessons learned, seven-time Emmy winner Betty White's wit and wisdom take center stage as she tackles topics like friendship, romantic love, aging, television, fans, love for animals, and the brave new world of celebrity. If You Ask Me mixes her thoughtful observations with humorous stories from a seven- decade career in Hollywood. Longtime fans and new fans alike will relish Betty's candid take on everything from her rumored crush on Robert Redford (true) to her beauty regimen ("I have no idea what color my hair is and I never intend to find out") to the Facebook campaign that helped persuade her to host Saturday Night Live despite her having declined the hosting job three times already.

Featuring all-new material, with a focus on the past fifteen years of her life, If You Ask Me is funny, sweet, and to the point-just like Betty White.

In Excerpt from If You Ask Me, by Betty White

GROWING OLDER

"Old age isn’t for sissies.”

“I can’t believe I’m getting old.”

“Why do people ever say ‘Happy Birthday’?”

And the list goes on—we’ve heard them all. However, if one is lucky enough to be blessed with good health, growing older shouldn’t be something to complain about. It’s not a surprise, we knew it was coming— make the most of it. So you may not be as fast on your feet, and the image in your mirror may be a little disappointing, but if you are still functioning and not in pain, gratitude should be the name of the game.

Actually—and don’t laugh—there may even be some upsides to aging. People treat you more gently. They may even think your years of experience make you wiser than you are. And somebody always finds you a place to sit down, whether you want it or not.

Somewhere along the line there is a breaking point, where you go from not discussing how old you are to bragging about it. I have never lied about my age, but these days I seem to work it into the conversation at the drop of a hat. Please stop me before I get to the point of, “Hi, I’m Betty White—I’m eighty-nine years old!” There’s nothing to brag about—I didn’t accomplish that age, it sneaked up on me.

There is even a funny side to aging, if one has a warped sense of humor.

If one has no sense of humor, one is in trouble.

http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780399157530,00.html?sym=EXC