Meet the Reviewers
Sacramento Book Review has a staff of more than 100 book reviewers from around the country. Contact us if you’re interested in becoming a book reviewer.
Rachel Wallace
Rachel Wallace is a research assistant holding a Master’s degree in biology with a habit of moving every couple years. It would take all her fingers, and most of her toes, to count all the places she’s lived, but she currently resides in Davis, CA, with her husband, two dogs, and one overly inquisitive horse.
Reading has been a lifelong hobby of Rachel’s, with no book safe from her wide-ranging interests. When not reading – which takes up most of her spare time – Rachel is writing, watching sports, traveling, debating the merits of various video games with the above-mentioned husband, or working with rescue horses.
Debbie Suzuki
Debbie Suzuki is a quality engineer working for Adobe Inc. In her free time, she loves to read and blog. Reading has always been a favorite past time since she was a small child. She would spend her afternoons at the library reading or spending time with the librarians. This pattern has continued as she worked in her high school and university library. In 2005, she earned her Master of Library Science from San Jose State University and hopes to one day work as a young adult librarian. Some of her favorite genres to read are historical and paranormal romances and young adult fiction. In 2008, she started her blog, Debbie’s World of Books, http://debbiesworldofbooks.com/. Stop by to check out book reviews, giveaways, author interviews and more.
Leslie Wolfson
In her first gig as a book reviewer for a city newspaper, Leslie Wolfson was a struggling freelance writer who dared to send the editor a bill for her reviews, and was promptly fired! This was back in the 80’s when she actually received $50 per review, which was pretty good money in those days.
After giving up freelance writing for about twenty years, she is writing again on the side. (Working with high-risk teens as an English teacher is her day job.) Leslie has had many articles published in magazines and newsletters (most of them paid) and has also published six children’s plays (also paid.) But book reviewing is so darned fun, she’s been doing it for free over the last three years. To warm up, she wrote book reviews for both Children’s Literature and VOYA, where she occasionally saw her byline on Amazon.com. Leslie has moved on, and up, naturally, to Sacramento/San Francisco Book Review.
Having been a writer since the age of six (she “wrote” her first poem at five) she is always working on something having to do with writing. Her current project is her Y.A. novel, which she hopes to finish first, and publish second.
Amanda Mitchell
Kidnapped by gypsies at an early age and subsequently abandoned by the gypsies, Amanda Mitchell spent her formative years moving cross-country, from Los Angeles, California, to southern Florida to northern Wisconsin. All of these moves taught her what was really important: clothes, toys, even siblings could be replaced once you moved into your new house, but nothing could take the place of a well-loved book. Amanda’s father blames his chronic back problems on the boxes of her books he personally carried up and down dozens of flights of stairs during Amanda’s childhood.
All this reading eventually led to some writing, which eventually led to a weekly humor column for a regional Wisconsin newspaper. (To this day, no one’s really sure how that happened.) Amanda’s since given up the column, though she still writes from her new hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And she still reads. A lot. Her favorite books include Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and Christopher Moore’s Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal.
Amanda’s blog can be found at Non Skweeter.
Heather Ortiz
My mother always told me that I’d been born to a group of traveling circus performers, but as the years went by and I found myself strangely uninterested in being shot out of a cannon, I began to suspect she might be pulling my leg. I did exhibit some carnival-like freakishness, however, when I began reading at age two, and by the time I was four, it was a common practice to amaze friends and visitors by handing me a newspaper and having me read it out loud. Then I’d make it disappear into thin air. When I was six,,I went to my school’s library and picked out my first ever “grown-up” book, The Black Stallion by Walter Farley. After a brief tussle with the librarian (that stately matron was fully convinced that that book was far above the abilities of a six-year-old) I managed to stun her with my incredible alliterative abilities and a few well-chosen naughty words. The librarian learned an important lesson about the dangers of trying to balk a well-read six-year-old, and I was allowed to take the book home. I almost didn’t bring it back. I was in love.
My childhood was plagued with an infestation of stepmothers (three at the last count) and since the justice system has yet to add “annoying the hell out of me” to the list of offenses that are punishable by severe defenestration, the only place I could escape was into books. I’m almost positive I read the entire contents of my high school library in four short years. I even smuggled home Stephen King novels, although Stepmother #2 had expressly forbade them from coming into the house. College and on-campus living brought a respite and a huge new library to read my way through. Unfortunately, it also brought the bitter revelation that I was not cut out to be a novelist. Turns out that writing a novel isn’t all book signings and Oprah appearances and getting to work in your pajamas all day. Apparently one has to actually also write things down in a comprehensive and logical manner. Every day! I spent a week in a despondent funk that involved a lot of Alanis Morissette, a lot of cookie dough ice cream, and not a lot of showering. But, eventually, I got over it and resumed loving books with my trademark level of ferocious enjoyment.
I grew up in New Mexico, terrorized South California for eight years and am now currently located in North Carolina working as an IT Program Planning Specialist. Life with my fiancée and our 60 lb Norwegian Elkhound named Loki includes watching a lot of movies (Loki loves musicals), creating my own line of snarky note cards for my Etsy shop, motorcycle rides in nice weather and books. Books, books and more books!
Michelle Kerns
Michelle Kerns writes for a disturbingly eccentric collection of print and online publications, including AudioFile Magazine, ForeWord Magazine, Blogcritics.org, and her manifestation as the National Book Examiner columnist for Examiner.com.
If Michelle were to be exiled to a desert island and could take only five books, she would choose Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, James Joyce’s Ulysses, The Essays of E.B. White, Connie Willis’ To Say Nothing of the Dog, and Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. (“Hey, that Discworld thing isn’t just one book! It’s like 20.” So what? Like I’m ever going to be exiled to a desert island anyway. Please.)
If she could have any three authors – dead or alive – over for dinner, she would invite Kingsley Amis, E.B.White, and Lev Grossman. She’d serve them rib-eye steak, platters of steamed clams, and enough martinis (no vermouth, three olives) to make this party of accomplished drinkers very jolly indeed.
Michelle’s most embarrassing book critic moment? When she stupidly (and very probably drunkenly) attributed Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot and Foundation trilogy to Arthur C. Clark in a science fiction article. Her finest moment? When Time magazine book critic Lev Grossman emailed to tell her he liked one of her reviews. She was so ecstatic, she printed out the email, framed it, and hung it over her computer. If her house was on fire and she could rescue only one thing, it would probably be that.
Michelle watches the movie Hot Fuzz every Thursday night, passionately adores Martha Grimes’ mystery novel character Melrose Plant, and is a devout advocate of the four food groups: red wine, white wine, Guinness, gin. Her dedication to literature and liquor is so profound, she’s currently writing two books to celebrate her love of both: Read, Drink, and Be Merry: The Ultimate Guide to Pairing Alcohol and Literature and Book Lush 101: Drink Your Way Through English Literature.
She knows where her towel is.
Lanine Bradley
Lanine has loved reading since she was a small child. Coming from a long-line of school teachers, she had little choice in the matter. Now, as an adult, she reads approximately one book a day. “Books have always served as my stress reliever. Any time I’m having a bad day, all I have to do is pick up a book. Twenty minutes later, I’m refreshed and ready to face the world.” A self-proclaimed bibliophile, she recently downsized her personal library from 600 books to her favorite 225. “I had to, we were running out of bookshelves,” she explained.
In 2003, after graduating with a Bachelor’s in Strategic Management, Lanine swore never to set foot on campus again. She recently had to eat her words when she returned to California State University in 2008 to earn her MBA, double-majoring in Finance and Urban Land Development. She anticipates graduating in December of 2010. “Being on campus again as an older student is amazing. I feel I can better appreciate all university life has to offer, such as the awesome art shows or the wonderful guest speakers. I recently was able to catch Henry Rollins when he preformed spoken word on campus. It was amazing.”
Last year she left corporate life to work as a property management coordinator for a small start up company and has never been happier. Lanine lives in Roseville, CA with her two teenagers, two cats, and a Chihuahua/terrier mix. When not working, studying, or manage her brood, she indulges in her passion for coffee, bookstores, movies, blogging, spending quality time with friends, and her dirty little secret–an addiction to reality TV shows. Working on her first novel, Lanine is hopeful to finish early next year.
Jordan Magill
A recovering political consultant, Jordan Magill is an alumnus of both the Squaw Valley and the Tin House writer’s conferences. In 2010, he will be disembarking to New York with his very understanding wife and their three children, where he has been offered a fellowship by NYU’s Creative Writing Program.
Jordan’s first novel, Who Mourns for Saul?, a retelling of the rise and fall of the first king of Israel, is currently out for reading by publishers.
Kelli Christiansen
Kelli Christiansen launched bibliobibuli professional editorial services in 2007, putting 20 years of experience in publishing to work for individual authors and publishers on a variety of manuscripts as an editor, publishing consultant, and writer. Kelli began her publishing career in 1988 as a bookseller for B. Dalton (part of Barnes & Noble). She served as a journalist and city editor for a chain of community newspapers before becoming an acquisitions editor first at Publications International, Ltd./Consumer Guide and later at McGraw-Hill.
Prior to launching bibliobibuli, Kelli was an executive editor at ABA Publishing (part of the American Bar Association). Kelli has worked on more than 200 books, including several that have won kudos from a number of publications, including The New York Times, Business Week, Barron’s, and Library Journal. Her clients include Amacom, Bloomberg Press, Kaplan Publishing, and Sourcebooks. Kelli works out of her home office in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Noelle Foster
Noelle studied Creative Writing and Literature at City College of San Francisco. She is a poet, screenwriter, and novelist, and an alumnus of Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Her short fiction has been published in the Writer’s Post Journal. She is a finalist of the Storybay Screenwriting Contest and a quarter-finalist of the Writers of the Future short fiction contest. In addition to her extensive writing experience, Noelle has acted in network television and feature films.
When not writing, Noelle teaches acting to children. She lives in Carmichael, California, with her soul mate and his lovely daughter.
Sheli Ellsworth
Sheli Ellsworth is a free-lance writer and mother of two teenagers who lives in Thousand Oaks, CA. She has a master’s degree in psychology used mainly to annoy family and friends.
Her writing has been published in the Pacific Daily News, the Ventura County Star, BackHome magazine, Auto Week, Zone4 and she also writes Dear Miss Betty-advice for those who need to be slapped for Spotlight on Recovery.
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Nicholas Evan Sarantakes is a Bay Area native and a historian. He currently teaches strategy at the Naval War College. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California, an M.A. from the University of Kentucky, and a B.A. from the University of Texas. He has written two books. His third Allies Against the Rising Sun: The United States, the British Nations, and the Defeat of Imperial Japan comes out in late 2009. He is currently finishing a fourth book on the 1980 Olympic boycott. He has published a number of articles that have appeared in outlets such as The Journal of Military History, and ESPN.com. He has won five writing awards for his article work, and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Although trained as a historian, he has also worked as a journalist. He was a reporter and an editor for The Daily Texan, the student newspaper at the University of Texas. Since then, he was written for The Montgomery Advertiser, Austin American-Statesman, The Augusta Chronicle, and the Augusta Daily Metro. He is currently moving into the world of fiction with an effort to write a mystery novel. He reviews both fiction and non-fiction for the Sacramento Book Review.
When he is not busy writing, he is trying to improve his modest snow skiing skills. He has skied in five states, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand.
Victoria A. Hudson
Victoria A. Hudson uses writing and photography to chronicle daily life, capturing detail and nuance often lost in the rush of the surrounding world. Every moment has its own story and she seeks to reveal those stories, and share those moments. She has a Master of Fine Arts-Nonfiction degree from Saint Mary’s College of California. She considers good essay writing a lost art. She is a poet by nature and writes occasional flash and other fiction, and views creating capturing narrative nonfiction as a vocation. Victoria A. Hudson’s most recent work may be found in Powder, Writing by Women in the Ranks, from Vietnam to Iraq (Kore Press). Her writing was featured in in Ballyhoo Stories Fifty States Project Online (Wyoming), BackRoomLive online (Poetry) and literary magazines Milvia Street and Back Room Live (Essay). Her work was selected for the 2007 San Francisco Writer’s Conference Anthology More Bridges. She annually sponsors the Victoria A. Hudson MFA scholarship for three Bay Area MFA students to attend the San Francisco Writers’ Conference. Follow her blog, Home and Hearth, at www.throwrockpaperscissors.blogspot.com.
Auey Santos
Auey Santos is a professional photographer, a voice actress, and a mom of two little boys. She was born in Indiana, but has lived in Boston, Welch WV, Tampa Bay FL, New York City, Chicago, and Pasig City. She now calls the East Bay her home. She is a very nice person and likes to smile a lot.
Raised on a healthy dose of Judy Blume and Louisa May Alcott, Auey remembers smuggling books and a flashlight under the covers to continue her reading habit after lights out. The last time we looked, she has 12 books on her bedside table, which she reads on rotation as the mood strikes. Fortunately, she’s invested in a bedside lamp. She’s been wearing eyeglasses since she was 10 years old.
Auey loves stories. And she likes to tell stories through her photos. Visit her photo-blog at http://www.aueysantos.com/.
D. Wayne Dworsky
Although he grew up in New Jersey, D. Wayne Dworsky was born in Brooklyn, NY, in 1944. He recognized his love of nature at a very young age. In 1980, he graduated from Herbert H. Lehman College with a Bachelor of Arts Degree and launched his career in education in 1984 by teaching mathematics, which would span 21 years. Between 1983 and 1984, he achieved recognition in the Mohonk Preserve in the Shawangunks as a first-class rock climber, which led to his conquest of the Matterhorn in Zermat, Switzerland in 1985. From 1978 to 1985, he served as editor of the newsletter put out by the Spina Bifida Associatation of Greater New York. In 1987, he received his Master’s Degree from City College. In 2004, he retired from teaching and began to publish. He writes articles for American Chronicle | D. Wayne Dworsky. Publicity and praise of his fictional stories may be viewed at: http://www.bookmasters.com/marktplc/01591.htm. Additional information is available at his full Bio:
Joseph Arellano
Joseph Arellano is a newer member of the Sacramento Book Review team. He grew up not far from Sacramento in Stockton, where he received his B.A. in Communication Arts from the University of the Pacific (UOP). Joseph quit the Pacific debate team in order to thoroughly enjoy himself spinning records for KUOP-FM. He produced the weekly rock album reviews for the radio station and for the campus paper, The Pacifican.
Joseph moved to Los Angeles for graduate school and somehow never learned to dislike the area (Southern California Book Review, anyone)? After completing law school, he pretty much decided that he wanted to do anything but boring legal work, and accepted an interesting job with a state agency. He quickly became entrenched in state service and has worked as a public servant – including teaching in the Criminal Justice Department at Sacramento State – for many, many moons.
Joseph also expresses himself via his blog on which he focuses on books (yes), music (naturally), beer, running, health news, cats and other essentials. He plans to eventually start a new one, with just book and music news and reviews, which will be located at http://josephsreviews.wordpress.com. He’s also begun to try his hand at some pre-publication editing work for a technical publisher.
He currently lives in Elk Grove with his wife Ruta and Norwegian Forest Cat, Munchy. He spends his time being confused about exactly what books he’s supposed to be reviewing, which tends to frustrate Heidi to no end. What is it Heidi says about supervising the team of reviewers? Oh, yeah: “It’s like herding cats!”
Adam Wilson
Adam Wilson was born and raised in Cincinnati, OH…and has an unhealthy love of ellipsis. After graduating from The Ohio State University in 2004, he came back to Cincinnati…where he met his super-awesome wife. To pay the bills, he works as a purchasing agent at an auto parts distributor. In his spare time, he is the editor of Letters on Pages, a non-fiction book review website. He loves to read and watch great TV (which usually consists of The Discovery Channel and ESPN.) When not reading or watching TV, Adam sometimes finds time to play with his three dogs: Palmer, Nitro Thunderstorm, and ShamWow!
Adam really enjoys blogging, and hopes to someday be able integrate it as an actual paying career…in fact, donations are being accepted at this very moment! Adam is very excited to be involved with Sacramento Book Review and wants to thank them for the opportunity to review for them.
John Ottinger, III
John Ottinger III is passionate about science fiction and fantasy. A prolific reviewer, he has been posting reviews online and in print since 2004. More recently, he has become a regular contributor to Tor.com, as well as landing gigs reviewing for Publisher’s Weekly, Sacramento Book Review, The Fix, Fantasy Magazine, and the twitterzine Thaumatrope. In addition, he runs his own popular science fiction and fantasy blog, Grasping for the Wind (http://otter.covblogs.com), where he post reviews, interviews, free fiction, and news from the worlds of speculative fiction.
John’s passion for fantasy began at a young age, when his father read him The Hobbit and The Chronicles of Narnia before bed. From there, he graduated to reading work by David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Robert Jordan, Orson Scott Card, Terry Pratchett, and George R. R. Martin. John is glad of the opportunity to review books, as it has brought his attention to many new an upcoming authors, as well as fostered interesting online friendships with fellow bloggers, authors, and publishing industry professionals.
By day, John is a (not so) mild mannered financial analyst, working particularly with non-profits and churches looking to purchase real estate and construct buildings.
When not working or reviewing, John enjoys watching crime dramas on television, playing with his miniature dachshund Darra, and helping out his local community through volunteer service.
Doreen Erhardt
Doreen was raised in the Santa Clara Valley, where she married in 1980. She embraced a successful fifteen-year career as a Project Planning Specialist and Supervisor at Ford Aerospace Communications Corporation (now known as Space Systems/Loral), until 1994, when she and her husband relocated to the beautiful Sierra Foothills of California-a goal they had worked towards since their introduction to Amador County in 1981. It is here that Doreen launched her second career as an artist and gallery owner.
She discovered her passion for photography in 1981 when her husband bought her first SLR camera system for their first wedding anniversary. In 1990, she returned to college, studying both black & white and color photography, completing her education in 1994.
Finally settling into their new life in Amador County, Doreen was invited to join the Left Bank Gallery in Jackson. From there, she become a co-owner in the Volcano Gallery, and two years later, opened her own gallery; The St. George Salon of Art in Volcano. For six years, she acted as curator; creating and executing group and solo art shows, creating and maintaining a global presence through the Internet and handling all aspects of one of the gold country’s more prominent galleries. The artist has received more than 50 awards for her art and photography, including being the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Art and Science of Photography in 2004. Doreen has collectors in the United States, China, Europe, Hong Kong and the U.K.
Wishing to spend more time with her recently “retired” husband of 28 years and her camera, she left the gallery exhibition world in 2005. Since that time, Doreen has added to her website www.SalonOfArt.com many series and collections to her body of work.
She offers many collections, sets and series that are well-matched for a large variety of markets. Doreen has created several mock-up product images which can be found throughout the website. Her focus in 2008/2009 is to find licensing opportunities in apparel, gift wrap, stationery, greetings card and home décor markets; to name a few.
You can visit more of the artist’s work at her other shops. For great casual apparel for the family (including your pets) check out: http://www.cafepress.com/salonofart . For specialty items, such as; men’s designer ties and Ked’s shoes visit: http://www.zazzle.com/salonofart . For great greeting cards stop by: http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/salonofart. And for monthly updates on new art and product releases you can swing by http://www.squidoo.com/salonofartnews
Genny Heikka
Genny lives in the Sacramento area with her husband and their two children, where she balances writing with motherhood, and loves both. She’s an Assistant Regional Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and she edits a regular column in the North/Central California SCBWI newsletter, The Acorn. Genny’s writing has been published in magazines and on websites. One of her picture book manuscripts won 1st Place in the California Focus on Writers Contest. Her middle grade novel manuscript won Honorary Mention in the California Focus on Writers Contest, Children’s Literature Category, as well as Honorary Mention in the Smartwriters.com WIN Contest. She’s a regular contributor at 5minutesforfaith.com, a 5minutesformom.com sister site. In addition, one of her works is scheduled to appear in an anthology published by Bright Sky Press in 2009, called Kirtsy Takes A Bow: A Celebration of Women’s Voices Online.
If you ask Genny what her favorite book is, she probably won’t be able to narrow it down to just one. As to her favorite author? It would be a tie between her favorites from childhood: Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss.
Genny loves spending time with her husband and kids, exercising, dancing, chocolate, sunsets, grapevines in the fall when they are changing color, the smell of the library, lingering in the book store, and reading.
Lots of reading.
Megan Just
Megan Just has always been reading fanatic. As a child, she required weekly trips to the library where she would pick up a new armload of books. It’s hard to keep track of that many books and, thus, began Megan’s bad record of library fines that continues today. By mid-elementary school, Megan was animating her toys by writing stories about them, one key at a time, on her father’s old manual typewriter.
Megan began reviewing books for the Sacramento Book Review in March. At the time, she was living just up the hill from Sacramento in South Lake Tahoe. Although Megan recently moved south to Redlands, California, she will continue to review books for SBR. She especially enjoys reviewing books by local authors and books that are so new they have not been released for sale yet.
As a freelance writer, Megan writes for a variety of projects. She likes screenwriting and fiction writing best of all. She recently finished first drafts of two different books: one is a contemporary women’s novel, and the other, with some work and time, will be literary fiction. Megan hopes that someday her fellow SBR reviewers will be reading and analyzing her own books. You can read Megan’s Just Writing blog at www.meganjust.com.
Allena Tapia
Allena Tapia is a freelance writer, editor, mother and perpetual student. She was born and raised in 1980s Detroit. From an early age, she watched her mother climb out of the poverty of the Brightmoor barrio through books and education. By elementary school, Allena was picking up the novels assigned in her mother’s college classroom, and can still be completely lost in a book-much to the annoyance of her husband and two children.
Allena developed a strong loyalty to Michigan State University when her family moved to the Lansing, Michigan area in order for her mother to complete her education. In high school, Allena discovered that other languages provided the same succor, and she eagerly took up Spanish. She eventually made her way to Michigan State University herself, majoring in English and Spanish. She recalls entire days lost in the third floor stacks at MSU’s library, and curious glances from clerks who would process out 20 books at a time for her.
She began her word-oriented career editing and writing full time for both Michigan State and the local community college, but holds that the University classroom spoiled her. She much prefers to work on her own circadian rhythms, and pursue her own interests. She also enjoys prolonged travel to her husband’s family ranch in middle Mexico, where she can practice her Spanish and write quietly as her children manhandle farm animals and run wild in the village. Because of this, she has found her calling as a freelance writer and editor. She is the managing editor of a regional, bilingual social-justice oriented magazine, and has held contracts with the NYT- owned About.com, EBSCO, Thompson-Gale and M.E. Sharpe. Articles and book reviews have been printed in regional and national glossies, and much of her work focuses on Latino issues and culture.
Allena regards words, linguistics, literature and language study as the “stuff of life.” Recommended reading includes “Love in the Time of Cholera” and Verbatim magazine. Her future includes completing her first novel, visiting the Alhambra in Spain, and someday retiring to Mexico with her beloved husband.
She is available for freelance writing, editing and book reviewing through her company, GardenWall Publications: www.gardenwallpublications.com.
Susan L. Roberts
I have a passion for children’s picture books and have a collection of more than 300. I’ll go into a library or books store, pull 15-20 off the shelf and spend a delightful hour reading and re-reading new titles and my favorites. It’s something about the simple, often nurturing, text and beautiful art. Whenever I’ve had a hectic day at work, I slip into bed with a few of my favorites, and life is good again.
I live in Sacramento, California, have a degree in Business Administration and work in marketing. I love promotions, so writing children’s book reviews for Sacramento Book Review combines two of my passions.
Cathy Lim
Cathy Carmode Lim has been reviewing books for newspapers for more than 10 years. She was a book-page editor for two of those years, until her recent move to California’s Central Valley area. Her lifelong love of reading, along with her “professional-sounding” status as a book reviewer, has led a lot of friends and acquaintances to ask for advice on books to read or just to start up conversations about good reads. She has been able to be in a couple of book clubs and had even more opportunities to talk about books and enjoy the company. What fun – books, friends and even tasty snacks or scrumptious desserts!
Cathy runs a website called Rated Reads (www.ratedreads.com) that not only provides reviews of recent books (young adult, middle reader and adult novels and nonfiction) but also gives ratings to the books based on content. Some readers find themselves frustrated on finding a popular book has a whole lot of bad language, vulgarity or sexual content (or on learning that their teen has picked up a book with that kind of material), so the site is a service to give extra information for those who like to “be warned.” It’s much like the ratings system for movies or television – and information is power.
Cathy is a wife to a physical therapist and mother to four daughters, ages 13 down to 2. Books are in her office, living room and bedroom and in each of her daughters’ bedrooms. She has read with her girls every night since each was little – and still reads with the oldest at least once a week. It’s delightful time spent together.
Cathy has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and works part-time now at the Visalia Times-Delta, laying out a weekly entertainment magazine (which naturally includes book pages). She is working on finding a publisher for a children’s book she has written and is next working on a young-adult book.
Andrea Rappaport
Andrea Rappaport’s passion for food and cooking was sparked early on. While most kids her age were making mud pies, Andrea found herself in the kitchen with her grandmother, who lovingly and patiently taught her to prepare the food of her Eastern European heritage. Andrea also received an early culinary education from her food -obsessed parents, who insisted on dragging her and her brother to every hot, new Los Angeles restaurant.
In high school, she spent much of her free time cooking with friends and, at the age of sixteen, landed her first job at a gourmet food shop, where she was introduced to delights such as cheeses from around the world and pasta made from scratch.
At eighteen, Andrea left home to attend college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, while she majored in sociology, she found herself focusing more intently on creating exciting meals for her friends. In her senior year, it finally became clear that she should pursue a career in cooking. Encouraged by her parents to complete her degree and to get some hands-on restaurant experience before diving straight into cooking school, she took a job at a local restaurant where she found that she thrived on the pressures and excitement of restaurant life.
In 1990, Andrea moved to New York to attend the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and it was during her stint there that she procured a six-month externship in Wolfgang Puck’s kitchen at Spago in Los Angeles. Upon completing her degree at the CIA, she returned to Los Angeles to cook at Spago and then left a year later to be part of the opening staff of Spago, Las Vegas. Andrea spent two years honing her craft and mastering every station in the Las Vegas restaurant, but eventually felt the need move on.
The next stop on her culinary journey was in San Francisco, where she accepted the position as executive chef of the Italian restaurant Zinzino. In her six years as the chef there, Andrea received sparkling reviews from customers and food critics alike and was named a Rising Star Chef by the San Francisco Examiner. She was also invited to be a guest chef at the James Beard House in New York, one of the highest accolades an American chef can receive.
Eventually, Andrea burned out on the frenetic restaurant lifestyle. She spent a year running her own catering business and then took a full-time job as the private chef for a family in the Silicon Valley, where she has remained for eight years. Today, she continues her work as a private chef and divides her time there with free-lance catering, teaching cooking to adults and children, and consulting. She is also a contributing writer for the website Chef2chef.com and writes cookbook reviews for Sacramento Book Review. Andrea spends her free time enjoying the many wonders of San Francisco, socializing with friends, and immersing herself in her cookbook collection which is more than 1200 titles strong.
Dominique James
Dominique James is a professional photographer, writer and graphic designer based in New York City.
In the span of more than 20 years, he has photographed countless famous individuals from Asia and other parts of the world, such as celebrated entertainment personalities and top fashion models, as well as high-ranking politicians and prominent socialites. In addition, he has done numerous commercial, advertising, and corporate photography. Some of his international clients include Avon, Apple, Epson, Fuji, and Nikon.
Dominique also regularly conducts popular models and photographers workshops. Frequently, he serves as a judge and a consultant to photography contests, model searches, beauty tilts, and talent competitions.
To date, he has presented more than 50 one-man and group photography exhibits. While he is best known for his celebrity portraits, his scope of work is diverse: it includes cutting-edge fashion, product, food, travel, landscape, architectural, interior, and adventure photography for advertising, commercial, corporate, entertainment,fashion, and media use.
Please go to www.flickr.com/photos/dominiquejames to view some of his works and projects. Also, please visit www.dominiquejames.com for more information or send email to djphotographer@mac.com for inquiries.
Alyssa Feller
Alyssa Feller has recently returned to her hometown of Sacramento after earning a B.S. in English from BYU-Idaho. She’s loving the sunshine and not missing the cold, snowy weather at all! She now works as a freelance writer and proofreader while still finding time to do her own writing and blogging (mostly about books!).
Alyssa grew up with a family of readers, and was rarely seen without a book. Weekly trips to the local library meant all the librarians recognized her and greeted her by name. Alyssa began reviewing books 4 years ago when her love of reading and writing about books led her to a volunteer position reviewing for a Young Adult book website. Alyssa loves writing for Sacramento Book Review because it gives her the opportunity to read her favorite type of books (Young Adult) and still discover some great new reads in other categories.
When not reading or writing about books, Alyssa enjoys movies, musicals, and spending time with her family. When she’s lucky she also gets to take the occasional trip to her favorite place in the world: Disneyland. You can catch up with Alyssa at her blog: http://theshadyglade.blogspot.com.
Holly Scudero
Holly Scudero has been a lover of books ever since learning to read as a child. That love continued through all of school, where she was consistently ahead of her grade level in reading, through high school and beyond; in college, she took numerous literature classes for fun, including one on Shakespeare and Bible stories. That love of books is deeply interconnected with a general love of the English language; a someday English major with an A.A. in Liberal Arts, Holly loves to write short stories and poems. In fact, a close friend of hers frequently asks her to tell her bizarrely crafted stories to fill spare time.
Currently working for a financial services company in Sacramento, Holly lives in Woodland with her husband in their recently acquired house. Also living there is her cat, Freddy, a small monster who enjoys playing with his food and water and opens Holly’s dresser drawers when she is not home. Holly grew up in the Bay Area, where the majority of her family and some of her closest friends still reside. She volunteers every summer at Two Sentinels Girl Scout Camp and is a lifelong Girl Scout. Holly belongs to the Davis Women’s Book Club and absolutely loves her side job as a writer for the Sacramento Book Review.
Holly has been a vegetarian since shortly after graduating high school. She absolutely loves to cook exciting vegetable dishes, and loves it even more when she can sneak vegetables into unexpected places, such as in cakes. Holly is a bit of a health nerd, actually. She’s also a bit of a comic book nerd, and a video game nerd. Well, Holly is kind of a nerd in general, and she wears the title proudly. She frequently attends comic book conventions and makes a journey to the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, Oregon, every year.
Her favorite genres have traditionally been popular fiction or fantasy, but lately she has been rediscovering a love for classic literature and has found that some chick lit isn’t all that bad. Her favorite books currently include The Jigsaw Woman and The Time Traveler’s Wife, as well as The Wheel of Time and A Song of Ice & Fire series.
Amber K. Stott
Amber K. Stott joined the Sacramento Book Review as a freelance writer in March 2009. She also writes gardening tales, recipes, book and restaurant reviews on her blog AwakeAtTheWhisk.blogspot.com.
Amber’s award-winning writing has earned her several first-place honors from the Sacramento Public Relations Association. Currently, she serves as the head of fundraising and communications for Women’s Empowerment, a Sacramento-based nonprofit serving homeless women and children. She has raised more than $4 million for nonprofits including WEAVE and Freedom from Hunger, and serves on the board of the California Capital Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She also holds awards for nonprofit event planning.
Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature from the University of Illinois, and from the same university, a Master’s degree in African Studies and Women’s Studies, Amber also received a Fulbright Hayes scholarship to study Zulu. She also speaks Danish, and was a Rotary Exchange Student to Denmark.
Raised by a librarian, Amber is often seen with a book in hand. As soon as she could reach the kitchen counter, she baked regularly with her grandma and bakery-owner aunt. She also picked fruit in the yard to make jam with her dad. Today, Amber tends to five raised garden beds with her husband in Sacramento, California, using crop rotation and organic methods. Her seasonal recipes draw inspiration from the ripe produce in her back yard. Her favorite books include Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver and Comfort Me with Apples by Ruth Reichl.
Alex C. Telander
Alex C. Telander was born in 1979 in Málaga, on the south coast of Spain, where he lived for the first nineteen years of his life, attending an English high school. He started writing with a vested interest at the age of fifteen with short stories for class and personal enjoyment. In his last few years in high school, he started his own newspaper, the St. Anthony’s Gazette, where he published some of his stories, as well as a wealth of other material that he mostly wrote for the paper.
Attending Long Beach State, he majored in English: Creative Writing, which he earned a B.A., as well as a minor in history focused on medieval studies. While in college, he wrote for the independent, student-run newspaper, formerly the Long Beach Union, now the Union Weekly (http://www.asicsulb.org/unionweekly/), first as a staff writer, then as an editor, starting the Literature Page, where his book reviewing first began. In his last year at Long Beach State, he was Editor in Chief.
Alex C. Telander is a very busy guy. He has been reviewing books for more than a decade and over the last few years for BookLoons.com and now also working for the great Sacramento Book Review. He also keeps his own website, www.alexctelander.com, updated every couple of months with his book reviews and other writings, including the “Stream of Consciousness” page.
He is the creator and host of the unique book review and author interview podcast BookBanter (http://bookbanter.podbean.com), which has new episodes on the 1st and 15th of every month. He has already interviewed big authors like Brandon Sanderson, Amber Benson, Dan Simmons, and Bernard Cornwell, with many more interviews planned. You can check out BookBanter at: http://bookbanter.podbean.com, or search for it on iTunes (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=293685675). Check out his Facebook group or send an email to bookbanterpodcast@gmail.com to join the mailing list.
Alex is currently working on what he hopes to be the last rewrite of his mystery/thriller novel, Nothing is an Accident, about a man who wakes up and doesn’t know who he is or where he is, or how he even got there. He is also working on a comic book series called 1066: a historical account of the Battle of Hastings. He has already completed a young adult fantasy novel, Kyra, with plans for many more books, including Wyrd, a historical fiction novel set in sixth century Britain. With what little time he has left, he spends it reading, reading, and more reading, watching TV, hanging out with friends, and watching his favorite baseball team, the San Francisco Giants, when he can. Go Giants!
Laura Friedkin
Laura Friedkin lives on the Olympic Peninsula in northwestern Washington state. She and her husband relocated there last spring after her husband took a job as a network engineer for one of the local Indian tribes.
Laura’s a graphic designer, with 20 years of experience, and has worked for printing firms as well as several businesses, doing packaging design for health and beauty aids, pharmaceutical and agricultural products, and sports nutrition supplements. Currently, she is doing volunteer work in her new small-town community and spending precious time with her aging parents, who retired from Illinois to the Peninsula 18 years ago.
Laura is an avid reader and enjoys doing reviews for the Sacramento Book Review, which opens up her viewpoint to reading a wide variety of book genres. There’s a nice perk in getting to choose from a broad number of books, and insures her of a steady flow of books for her reading appetite! She’s been reading all her life and looks at it as a way to keep her imagination vivid and her thought process well oiled. It’s also a wonderful means of escape sometimes.
Having spent numerous vacations on the Olympic Peninsula, there are a lot of places yet to explore, and it’s a far cry from living in the suburbs of Denver, Colorado, where she and her husband lived for 6 years. It’s been an interesting process, adjusting to small-town living, where the population is in the neighborhood of 25,000, after living in a populace of well over 500,000. The pace of life is much slower, the climate more agreeable, and the scenery, profound, with towering mountains and miles of beach to wander.
Meredith Greene
Meredith Greene is native Californian, novelist, and avid blogger. She has been married for 13 years, works from a home office, and spends much time with her four energetic children. In elementary school, she discovered Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and began reading classic literature in earnest. The urge to write soon after blossomed from an inkling to serious intent, and her passion for poetry and literature did not diminish into college.
Now a writer for BelatorBooks.com, she has authored four fiction novels and is currently co-authoring a historically-accurate fiction series with her husband and fellow novelist Stephen Greene, starting with On the Way to America, a novel chronicling two immigrants coming to New York in early 1909. Seeking to further her professional experience in freelance writing, she began writing reviews for the Sacramento Book Review, and found the experience to be both informative and rewarding; she views such publications to be important venues in encouraging appreciation for the written word. Despite the veritable cloud of literature available, her favorite books remain The Count of Monte Cristo, Pride and Prejudice and My Family and Other Animals.
Mark Petruska
Mark Petruska is in love and wants the world to know it. The object of his affection? The Pacific Northwest, where he has lived for the past 15 years. Born in Hawaii, his father was in the Air Force, and the family moved often. Over the years, Mark has called many places home – Dayton, Ohio; Rapid City, South Dakota; San Jose, California – but his heart belongs to Vancouver, Washington, where he currently resides.
Mark is also passionate about writing. In the 8th grade, he finished first in a short-story contest, and has been hooked on the written word ever since. When he turned 30, he decided to try his hand at novel writing, and has cranked out four books over the years; he is currently hard at work on #5.
“My dream is to become a published author,” Mark says. “I’d love to walk into a bookstore someday, and pull a novel with my name on it from the shelf.”
In the meantime, Mark is enjoying the experience of reviewing books for Sacramento Book Review. “It’s a win-win situation for me,” he says. “I love reading, and this has given me the chance to discover some promising new authors. Plus, it’s giving me some valuable publishing experience, which will hopefully help me out when it’s time to pitch my latest book. I’m excited to be a part of the whole process, and look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with Sacramento Book Review.”
Mark is divorced, and shares custody of his two children, Jason and Danielle. His “day job” is a marketing coordinator for a pressure washer manufacturer in southwest Washington. Hobbies include cooking, photography, “mind-numbing reality television,” and hiking in the Columbia Gorge.
Deborah Lee Rose
Deborah Lee Rose is an internationally published children’s author, as well as a science writer for UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science. She began writing books when her first child was born-and her first book, The People Who Hugged the Trees, has been published in at least seven languages, broadcast to schools throughout the United Kingdom, and included for 20 years in major U.S. school language arts anthologies. Her tenth and newest book, The Twelve Days of Springtime, is the sequel to her two National Parenting Publications (NAPPA) Gold Award winners, The Twelve Days of Kindergarten and The Twelve Days of Winter.
For inspiration, she walks 12-18 miles a week, sews child-size quilts, and visits beautiful ocean sites, like the Monterey Bay, whenever she can. She loves reading and reviewing children’s books, because she has found, with her own children and children she has met at many school visits, that books can quickly create a powerful connection with the most outgoing or most timid child, and help families capture tender moments to cherish for years. Her website is www.deborahleerose.com.
Alexander Kugushev
Alexander Kugushev was born in France, of Russian parents, and educated successively in Yugoslavia, Austria, Switzerland and Argentina. The son of political émigrés, growing up in a Europe rent by conflicts between the two World Wars, he experienced a fair share of life’s ups and downs. He lived through World War II, the defining experience of his life, as a boy and into his early teens.
He lost his father as a small child. His compassionate mother taught him respect for all life and regard for the equality of all people. She also inculcated love of music. From his grandfather he learned that we can all excel and that there is no ceiling to what we should know. From his years in Switzerland he learned deep devotion to democracy. From his two emigrations, to Argentina and, twelve years later, to the United States, he learned about the contradictions and paradoxes of life. His Yankee wife taught him much about America and about the possibility of pursuing happiness (and of even catching it).
He is a journalist by trade and a publisher by profession, having spent a career of over forty years publishing educational materials in the United States, in print and on the internet. He was the founder and CEO of CyberGnostics, an online educational publisher, and author of Resilient America: An immigrant examines our nation’s adaptive continuity. He is a committed naturalized American, speaks seven languages and has traveled extensively throughout his life, at this point to over seventy countries. He reads omnivorously and is a dedicated outdoorsman. He lives in Menlo Park, in Northern California.
Susie Kopecky
Ever since I could pick up a book, I’ve found no good reason to put it back down. I find reading not only to be pleasurable and rewarding, but also a wonderful and educational pastime. When not working full-time as a student and writer, I am… you guessed it: reading! Other activities I enjoy include swimming, traveling (even a walk to the park can be an adventure!), music and concocting delicious foodstuffs (the tasting is the best part!).
A good story, when told effectively, can change the world. Writers from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, to Walt Disney, Harriet Beacher Stowe to Charles Darwin, Harper Lee to the epic scribes of the Torah and New Testament: their works have had monumental and history-shaping consequences on the history of human thought.
Oh the pen…it is mighty!
Laurie Racca
If you asked Laurie Racca to name “a few of my favorite things,” at the top of the list would be musicals, sunshine, and dirt. Raised in a music-loving family, she grew up playing trombone in the orchestra and marching band, with a little jazz on the side. Her iTunes library includes music ranging from alternative rock to zydeco. Although Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music will always have a special place in her heart, The Jersey Boys is currently her favorite musical.
As a Professional Geologist whose career has focused on cleaning up hazardous waste sites, it should be no surprise that she loves the outdoors. She grew up swimming and playing field hockey, and her adult hobbies center on travel and sports. She recently returned from a trip to Florida that included an eco-kayak tour, running a half marathon, and several rounds of golf. Her past adventures have included ice climbing on an Alaskan glacier, and learning to scuba dive in the Red Sea. The physical activity enables Laurie to indulge in her love of fine wine, gourmet food and chocolate.
When she’s at home, Laurie enjoys working in her garden and spending time with an extended family that includes her husband, kids, and grandkids, close friends and one very spoiled dog. Her personal goals include learning to speak Spanish, building a kayak, and reawakening her artistic side through photography and creative writing. She says the best part of being an SBR reviewer is that her daughter, the English major, now thinks she’s cool.
Dave Reynolds
Dave Reynolds is a third-generation Californian now living in Placerville. After successful careers in retail sales (15 years) and community newspaper journalism (10-plus years), he is still looking to jump-start his third profession as a Certified Technical Writer.
Married to Libby Casso, the love of his life, for eight years, Dave’s daughter is expecting her first child in May. He enjoys photography, reading, taking care of their nine cats, one dog and one horse, and getting their garden ready for planting. This year’s task is installing a drip irrigation system.
An avid reader, Dave also writes study guides for the people taking the LEED Accredited Professional green building exam. He also runs two blogs: kom-u-ni-kay-shunz.blogspot.com, devoted to corporate communications; and davereyn83.blogspot.com, a personal blog.
He began reviewing books-primarily science fiction and technology-for the Sacramento Book Review in February. The deadlines keep him sharp while giving him the excuse to read, relax, and enjoy.