Category: Books Reviews

Books Reviews

Book Review – NAPLES 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia

Erin Sluka
NAPLES 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia

NAPLES 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia by Professor of Medieval History Amedeo Feniello

Available November 12, 2024 at Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Walmart

Details: 1343: there is famine in Naples. After nightfall, a Genoese ship loaded with wheat is attacked by members of two local clans who brutally kill several sailors and their captain. The attackers returned to the city, greeted by the cheers of their countrymen, and the blind eye of the authorities. The Republic of Genoa presented the Kingdom of Naples with a formal protest against the incident. But, in a historical document of great importance today, King Charles I of Anjou admitted he did not control his own city, that the true rulers of Naples were the “family.”

When you think of the Mafia, you mat not go back to the 1300’s or think of Italy as a land of invasions at that time. This book looks at the history of Italy in the way that introduces family alliance as far back as ever known before in a time where resistance was a way of life in that country. These families were participating in the business of the royal family and serving as a new class of directors, officers, and bureaucrats. Whether you are intrigued by the history of the mafia or Italy’s history, the Author does a great job in his balance of both. It could otherwise be titles: The Forgotten History or Italy.

You can pre-order a copy today for its November release.

Books Reviews

YA Book Review – Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up

Erin Sluka
YA Book Review - Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up

New with Chronicle Books Publishing is Free Throws, Friendship, and Other Things We Fouled Up by Jenn Bishop. This is a great book for young athletes or all tween/teen readers. Young readers will get real emotions, family struggles, and insecurities driven by the tension of middle school sports in this book

.

Synopsis

Cincinnati, Ohio, lives and dies by college basketball, with two elite Division I rivals separated by a mere three miles. Rory’s dad just secured a new coaching gig at the University of Cincinnati, so it means yet another school and move for her, only this time to her dad’s hometown. Rory’s life revolves around basketball; she’s never had a close friend outside of it. Could this be a chance for a fresh start?

Abby has always lived in Cincinnati, where her dad grew up playing ball and now coaches at Xavier University. But Abby has recently retreated from basketball after a frustrating season that left her confidence in shambles. This year, she finds herself on the outside looking in when it comes to her former teammates, and she could seriously use a new friend.    

The coaches’ daughters connect over their shared love of the game when Abby chaperones Rory on her first day of school. But when Abby’s dad practically forbids their friendship because of something that happened between him and Rory’s dad when they were younger, Abby and Rory have no choice but to move their budding friendship underground.

Can the two of them get to the bottom of what went down between their dads in the 1990s before history repeats itself?

Available for pre-order today on Amazon! Release date is October 24, 2023.

Books Reviews

Running Past Dark YA Book Review – when a teen loses her twin and needs to move forward

Erin Sluka

What happens to the twi left behind? Book synopsis:

Scottie O’Doul isn’t looking forward to starting her senior year. Last May, her identical twin sister, Cait, died in a car crash involving the school’s beloved football coach. Scottie knows her twin would never take her own life, or someone else’s, but how can she prove it? As she faces bullying and hostility at school, she starts to wonder if what Cait said was even true. Turning to running to break through her grief, Scottie finds a new world and a new sense of self outside her twinness. She also reconnects with her old boyfriend, who had a terrible accident of his own the same day Cait died. Could there be a connection As she runs mile after mile, Scottie keeps trying to fit the jigsaw pieces together and find the true picture of what happened to Cait and what was really going on at school before the crash.

You don’t have to be a runner to feel Scottie’s energy in this book and the soul searching that happens when a twin is left behind at a young age. It is a bit of mystery with plenty of energy and you won’t want it to end. The book is available on Amazon and other favorite bookstore.

Books Reviews, Children's Books

Sky Ropes book review | A girl’s journey to overcome trauma

Erin Sluka
Sky Ropes book follows one girl's journey to overcome trauma

Sky Ropes is a book for ages 10 and up from Chronicle Publishing. It comes in Hardback or Kindle and is a story about a girl’s journey to overcome trauma and her bravery. The girl is Breanna and she is attending her school’s teambuilding camp. The major exercise will be ascending Sky Ropes—the highest ropes course in the state. She has zero plans to accomplish this.

Breanna’s trauma is her Father’s abuse. Somehow, the fear from her past is colliding with her fear of that Sky Ropes at the end of camp week. She makes the most of camp with friends. You will get to know her prankster and fun personality, you will feel her trauma and the tense moments she is feeling as the Sky Ropes challenge nears. You will cheer for her and go along the journey of all her internal struggles and realizations in the end. This book is great for those struggling with anxiety, fear and who love adventure stories.

Sky Ropes is written by Sondra Soderborg, a former practicing attorney, child advocate, and teacher at both a high school and a prison. But now on Amazon.