Book Synopsis: And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau: tells the story of a New York City Man who becomes a Alabama man. Despite his radical migration to simpler living and a late-life marriage to a saint of sorts, his persistent pet anxieties and unanswerable questions follow him. Mathias Freese wants his retreat from the societal "it" to be a brave safari for the self rather than cowardly avoidance, so who better to guide him but Henry David Thoreau, the self-aware philosopher who retreated to Walden Pond "to live deliberately" and cease " the hurry and waste of life"? In this memoir, Freese wishes to share how and why he came to Harvest, Alabama (both literally and figuratively), to impart his existential, impressions and concerns, and to leave his mark before he is gone.






I have to be honest with you. I don't normally read biographies or memoirs but when Nurture Your Books asked me if I wanted to be a part of this tour, I had to say yes. Mr. Freese's book is well written and kept me interested until he end. I come from Alabama. I was born and raised here and I have family that live in the Carolinas so when I saw this work I knew I had to read it. I know some of the places he speaks of in his book. I've been to some them a hundred times so I really enjoyed reading about someone who came all the way from New York to make his home here. Praise to, And Then I am Gone.

Title: And Then I Am Gone: A Walk with Thoreau 

Author: Mathias B. Freese

Genre: Nonfiction-Memoir/Biography

Formats. Paperback & eBook

Published by: Wheatmark

ISBN-13: 978-1627875387

Pub. Date: September 21, 2017

Number of pages: 117

Content Warning: N/A

Purchase at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca,Amazon.co.uk, and Barnes&Noble.com

Guest Post with Mathias B. Freese:

Please Compare/Contrast New York to Alabama and talk about why you moved. Feel free to talk about the moving process as well.

I went to the woods to paraphrase my Thoreauvian friend, because my wife comes from South Carolina (I elaborate on this in the book: on moving to Capshaw.) The culture shock has been significant for me: trying to understand Southern patois; Southern attitudes and mannerisms, to wit, "Sir" is commonly alive in sentences and chatter. I speak New York fast and I get Southern drawl. Politically, OUCH! I am in the land of Moore and Sessions, discomforting and disconcerting, to say the least. Football is god down here and churches of all kinds are throughout the area. I can't find a good Jewish Deli. As to moving, it is always a horror, boxes misplaced or lost. However, the trip of 1800 miles as described in my book is striking and at times stunning. Physically, at least in Harvest, the environment is beautiful, particularly in autumn; however, stinkbugs, copperheads and water moccasins are my bosom buddies. I think of Woody Allen trying to kill a cockroach with a tennis racket in one of his delirious early movies. I feel safe: my wife has skinned animals and packs a magnum. 

Author Bio:  MATHIAS B. FREESE is a multi-published, award-winning author, writer, teacher and psychotherapist.

Book Awards:

• The i Tetrology: All Books Review Editor's Choice Award 2017
• Down to a Sunless Sea: National Indie Excellence Book Awards 2007 & 
• AllBooks Reviews Editor's Choice Award 2007
• This Mobius Strip of Ifs: National Indie (Winner) Book Awards, 2012 & Global Ebook Award finalist, 2012
• I Truly Lament: Working Through the Holocaust: Finalist in the 2012 Leapfrog Press Fiction Contest out of 424 submissions, Beverly Hills Book Awards, Finalist readers'
• Readers Favorites, Five Stars; Indie Excellence Book Awards, Finalist Readers
• Favorite, Book Award Winner-Bronze medal
• Tesserae: A Memoir of Two Summers: 2016 Los Angeles Book Festival Honorable Mention, Great Northwest Book Festival Winner in Biography/Autobiography
• Category, Runner-Up in General Non-fiction Category in the San Francisco Book Festival, Winner for General Non-Fiction in The Beach Book Festival & Runner-Up in General Non-Fiction in the Paris Book Festival

I am excited to introduce the banner for Laurel's Gift which The Book Garden will be reviewing on January 24, 2018. I would like to invite people to come and follow my blog, thebookgardenreviews.blogspot.com and leave a comment. I will be giving away a $20 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. All you have to do is follow my blog, leave a comment and share link with your friends. Details of the contest will follow and winner will be picked via rafflecopter!

I am excited to introduce the banner for Wraith that The Book Garden will be reviewing on January 9, 2018. I would like to invite people to come and follow my blog, thebookgardenreviews.blogspot.com and leave a comment. I will be giving away a $20 gift card to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble. All you have to do is follow my blog, leave a comment and share link with your friends. Details of the contest will follow and winner will be picked via rafflecopter!

Review

***1/2

Deadly Choices by Karen Randau has everything you want in a mystery. It has a lot of heart, and love. It has characters who will stay with you long after you finish the book. It's a wonderful story. I have to say when I started reading it, I wasn't sure I was going to like it but the more I got in to it, the more I enjoyed it. Mrs. Randau did a wonderful job with this book. Once I got in to it, I could not put it down!

BLURB:

In book 3 of the Rim Country Mysteries, an elderly woman stumbles into the campsite as Rita, Cliff, and Rita’s long-lost mother Willow enjoy s’mores and folk music around the fire. The action heats up when Willow falls for the key suspect, Rita’s old friend and mentor. Rita discovers her mother isn’t the woman she thought she was, and Rita must overcome a spate of life-threatening obstacles

before anyone else dies.

EXCERPT:

“It’s illegal to leave the fire unattended,” I said. “And Cliff needs to get Lucy to the hospital.” I didn’t expect Willow’s cringe when I yanked my gun from under my tunic and pulled the slide to force a round into the chamber. “You can go with Cliff if you want, but I’d rather not be here alone. I’m not afraid to use this gun if I need to. Which I don’t expect to.”

“Willow, this could have been an accident.” Cliff jumped into the driver’s side of the Jeep and leaned his arm on the steering wheel. “Lucy’s student never walked through our camp. I’ve seen no cars drive by. The student parked somewhere else.”

Cliff glanced at the trailhead. “He might also be injured. To be extra cautious, Rita can get the rifle from the tent. You two sit back-to-back so you have a three-sixty degree view of your surroundings.”

Willow spun around. “But … wild animals . . . there was a gunshot.”

Cliff closed his door and opened the window. “I’ve seen Rita fight and shoot, and I can assure you that you’re safe with her. I’ll have to file a report, but I shouldn’t be more than an hour or two. I’ll let the county sheriff know he needs to activate the search and rescue team to find the student. Then I’ll be back.”

Cliff shifted into gear. “Willow, why don’t you use this time to tell Rita where you’ve been for the last twenty-five years?”

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

A native of the southwest U.S., Karen Randau pens the Rim Country Mystery series set in the quaint fictional mountain town of Rim Vista, Arizona, below the Rim of the Colorado Plateau.

The series features fast-paced stories with intricate plots, lots of action, and a pinch of romance, told from the point of view of protagonist Rita Avery.

Karen has traveled internationally and witnessed famines, violence, and hopeful people working to overcome abject poverty. She draws on both her creativity and personal experience to weave together an interesting cast of characters with rollercoaster-like twists and turns.

Links:

Buy Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074187YT7/

Website: http://www.karenrandau.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenrandauauthor

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/klrandau

Deadly Choices by Karen Randau

The Book Garden will be hosting Deadly Choices by Karen Randau on November 22, 2017. The book is a Mystery/Thriller that is available from Short on Time Books. The author, Karen Randau will be giving away a $15 dollar gift certificate from Amazon/ Barnes & Nobles to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter and a $15 Amazon/Barnes and Nobles gift card to a randomly drawn host. Goddess Fish Productions will be awarding a $5 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn host.