Weight of a Feather Book Review and Blog Tour (Charisma Media)

Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links.
I read Weight of a Feather and other stories, in exchange for honest review from Charisma Media.  I received a paperback copy of the book.

The Weight of a Feather: and Other Stories, written by Judy Croome, is a collection of short stories. The stories range from one page to 10 pages long. I wanted to review the book because I haven't read short stories in a while.

About the book (from media kit):

“The promise implicit in an anthology is that it aspires to present something different, unexpected” Joyce Carol Oates (Introduction to The Oxford Book of American Short Stories)

From the classical form of ‘The Weight of a Feather’, first published by The Huffington Post (2013), to the suggestive allegory of ‘The Leopard and The Lizard’, this collection of short stories by South African author Judy Croome is an ideal mix of the familiar and the startling.

These vibrant slices of life testify to the mysterious and luminous resources of the human spirit. Whether feeling the harrowing emotion in ‘The Last Sacrifice’ or the jauntiness of ‘Jannie Vermaak’s New Bicycle’, the reader will delight in a plethora of stories that cross boundaries to both challenge and entertain with their variety

About the author (from media kit):

Judy Croome lives and writes in Johannesburg, South Africa. Shortlisted in the African Writing Flash Fiction 2011 competition, Judy’s short stories and poems have appeared in various magazines and anthologies, such as the Huffington Post and the University of the Witwatersrand’s Itch Magazine. Her books “The Weight of a Feather & Other Stories” (2013), “a Lamp at Midday” (2012) and “Dancing in the Shadows of Love” (2011) are available. Judy loves her family, cats, exploring the meaning of life, chocolate, cats, rainy days, ancient churches with their ancient graveyards, cats, meditation and solitude. Oh, and cats. Judy loves cats (who already appear to have discovered the meaning of life.) She is currently researching child murders for her next novel and you can visit Judy on www.judycroome.com or join her on Twitter

My Review:

The first story is Weight of a feather, which is about a little girl and her birds, who she considers her friends. I also liked One Lonely Road, which is about a farmer starting a new life in the city. Another favorite was The Biter Bit. The story starts out with a wife fussing at her husband for stealing money from a homeless man for a lotto ticket. The Fan is about a husband, who wants his wife to turn on the fan to beat the heat. I feel like him right now. It is hot and my fan isn't getting the room cool enough. 

The book is well-written and descriptive. I liked the short story format. I can pick and choose what i want to read versus reading the whole book, from beginning to end. The book is available in paperback and Kindle format. The book is prime-eligible. 

Social Media Links:

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My Books Giveaway

For the Month of June, I am giving away one of my books (paperback). Either, Chocolate Kisses, Love.Lust.Life., or Conversations.

Chocolate Kisses is a book of poetry, dedicated to a former addicktion of mine. The book does contain sexual content. Started writing poems about him in 2005. The book ended up as therapy. Finishing it meant ending an addiction.

Love.Lust.Life. is another book of poetry. It does contain sexual content but covers other topics. My second book of poetry focuses on three aspects of my life. This book is more in depth with my feelings, emotions, struggles. Most of the poems were written between 2008 to 2010. I went through a crush, a miscarriage, graduation from school. I went through a lot mentally. Love.Lust.Life. was originally the first book and Chocolate Kisses was a part of LLL. I decided to break the two apart to separate two aspects of my life. Love focuses on being in love, unrequited love, the fantasy of being in love. Lust focuses on my sexuality. Life focuses on some of the things I went through

Conversations is a collection of short stories, I wrote. 3 was written for a contest for Lulu. One started out as a novel for NaNoWriMo, but I did not finish. and the last deals with some thoughts I have about sexuality.

The stories include:

• Conversing with Normality was about a conversation I had with my oldest child, who is autistic. He was hungry and I was struggling to figure out what to feed him, when we had nothing to eat. 
• Conversing with Salvation was about a conversation I had with God about my Children's salvation. Will Brad truly understand God's grace and mercy? It is my responsibility to make sure my son learns about God, despite his disabilities.
• Miscarried was about the pain I felt dealing with multiple miscarriages. The story became 600 words of therapy for me. 
• Conversing with Sexuality discusses my journey towards Celibacy. 
• First Attempt is a mini-short story, I wrote for National Novel Writing Month. This is the beginning of a story, based on things, which occurred between my sons and I.

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Amidst Traffic by Michel Sauret

I read Amidst Traffic, in exchange for review by Michel Sauret. The book was published by One Way Street Productions. I received the paperback from Sauret. I also have the Kindle version and the Smashwords copy, I got on my own, so I can read it on my e-readers and the Kindle, of course.

About the Author: paraphased from the back of the book

Sauret, is an indie author, who was born in Rome, Italy.  Sauret graduated from University of Pittsburgh English writing department. He published "Breathing God", his first novel at 18. He also served as a public affairs specialist and journalist for the United States Army since 2004. Sauret also has won several awards, including Army Journalist of the year in 2008. He also was featured in the Northside Chronicle recently, but I could not find the article online.

My thoughts:

The book is a collection of short stories. First, I liked the coding at the beginning of the book which signified language, violence, or sexual references. The codes were the first thing, which stood out. I wanted to incorporate something similar into my next poetry book, whenever that may be. I loved the stories from Eli and his strange dream in Three Straws. I also loved Voice with a Reason. Trevor's story was emotional and intense. Voice with a Reason details the story of Trevor, voices in his head, and a bank robbery. I was entranced from beginning to end, and the end was not what I was expecting, neither was the middle. Another good story was Blessed are the War People. The story was about Myron, a military journalist, heading to Iraq. He had his camera and ammunition, ready to work, yet getting angry at a woman at the airport.  Myron also got angry at a few soldiers, but with the power of Christ, he forgave them. Though, Myron was in a war-torn country, he recognized the power of God and recognizing the enemy within ourselves.  He seemed to be passive. I saw part of myself in him. Being angry on the inside and not doing anything about it, until it builds up. The stories were descriptive, graphic, and detailed. Definitely would want to see this book in audio format. Next, I loved the cover. It was simply beautiful.

Articles discussing Amidst Traffic:
Pittsburgh City Paper:

Blogtalk radio podcast, featuring Sauret

Upcoming Appearances:

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Workshop: "Writing Short Stories with Long-Lasting Effects" | Allegheny Library

 | 6:00 p.m.


Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Workshop: "Self Publishing: Rising Above the Stigma" | Shaler Library

 | 6:30 p.m.