New WordPress blog

Check me out at http://dharmaggedon.wordpress.com if you are looking for anything book related.  Hope to see you there:)

Please visit me at my new sites!

Please visit me at

The Book Czar – this is my new site for all things book related

Scribe Vibe – this is my new site for author guest posts

Zensanity – this is my new site for author interview

The 1st Page – this is my new site for the 1st page of new books

This site will remain up, but will not be active.  Hope to see you at some of the new ones, and thanks so much for all of your support

Courage in Patience by Beth Fehlbaum

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Kunati Inc. (September 1, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1601641567

ISBN-13: 978-1601641564

To purchase, click here.

Book synopsis:

Desperate to escape from her stepfather, fifteen-year old Ashley Asher finally finds the courage to confront her mother with painful details of six years of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.  To her horror, Ashley’s mother turns her back on her.  Only a teacher at her school offers any support.  A touching story focused on the themes of abuse, social injustice, racism, peer pressure, bullying, parental responsibility, fear, forgiveness, love, acceptance and hope, which will inspire the millions of abuse victims in America, young and old alike.  Suitable for the classroom study.  No graphic content.

Conceived on prom night, Ashley’s parents foolishly believe that they are capable of raising a child.  Three months after Ashley is born the relationship ends, and Ashley’s mother Cheryl decides to do her best.  But, like many women she feels she needs a man to make her feel complete, and in walks Charlie Baker.  In the beginning, Charlie treats Ashley just like a dad should, and makes her feel special.  Unfortunately, years later he is hoping that she will make him feel special – in a truly horrifying way. 

Ashley retreats in her mind when these instances happen, and when she finally has the courage to tell her mother, she is dismissed as having “dreamt it all”.  And when she confides in a teacher, and a rape kit confirms their worst fears, her mother still comes to Charlie’s defense.  Life is about to change drastically for Ashley, but for the better…at least for the most part.  Her father David, and step-mother Bev have opened their home to her, and David is thrilled at the chance to be part of his little girls life.  The town of Patience is small, and fully of religious zealots, bigots (including a “secret” Klu Klux Klan), and people willing to turn a blind eye rather than stand up for what is right.  But, deep in the heart of this town are the kind of people we all want to know – people willing to fight for everything they believe in.

Although stories like this have been told in the past, Beth Fehlbaum has a wonderful writing style that can tackle such strong subject matters without making you feel distraught while reading.  This is an excellent book and one I highly recommend!

About the author:

Beth Fehlbaum drew on her experience working with abused children as an English teacher in writing Courage in Patience.  She wrote Courage in Patience to give hope to survivors of abuse.  She is an English teacher with an M.Ed. and lives in East Texas.

Moving blog to Blogger

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to shoot off a quick post to tell you that this blog will be moved to blogger.  To visit – go to The Book Czar.  Hope to see you there!

The Sitting Swing by Irene Watson

 

Paperback: 248 pages
Publisher: Loving Healing Press (July 16, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1932690670
ISBN-13: 978-1932690675
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches

Book Synopsis:

Irene Watson’s pretentious life could go no further until she faced her past. Her moving and inspiring memoir begins at the end, in a recovery center, whe she has gone to understand a childhood fraught with abuse, guilt, and uncertainty.

Two distinct parts of the book look at abusive child rearing and the process of recovery years later. This story shows change, growth, and forgiveness are possible. It gives hope and freedom to those accepting the past and re-writing life scripts that have been passed down for generations. It’s never too late to change your life, never too late to heal.

This book was truly an eye opener. Upon hearing of Irene’s upbringing, I got tears in my eyes. My mother is not a whole lot older than Irene, and yet she had clothing bought for her and plumbing and electricity her entire life! She was the oldest of 6 children, but never felt neglected (maybe the first born syndrome was in play…even then). My heart broke for young Irene, constantly living in the shadow of a brother she never knew, and was never spoken of. She could do nothing right, yet had no freedom as both of her parents were afraid of what might happen to their daughter. Their fear may have led to their inability to show her the love she so desparately craved, and led to her seeking to find any way out of a miserable exsistence.

This books starts out with Irene enrolling in Avalon, a treatment facility recommended by her friends. She is leary from the very beginning as she looks up at the corner of the room and sees a video camera. There is no way she is going to consent to being videotaped, who do these people think they are? After dealing with Gilles for the first two weeks, she is ready to throw in the towel. She is not sure she believes anything that he is “preaching”, it is the same old, same old and he is harsh and demeaning in his delivery. After the first two weeks his wife Liliane takes over the sessions and it is a different world. Gone is the harsh and demeaning lessons, and the love and support that Irene felt so lacking in the beginning of her stay comes shining through…that is until she has to do a scripted session about a conversation she envisions with her husband. Liliane has words with Irene, words that shock Irene but in the end lead her to the breakthrough she needed all along.

There were so many parts of this book that I could relate to. I have some people in my family that struggle with alcohol, and it is heartbreaking to watch. It also is the reason that I don’t drink, something that Irene and I share. Don’t get me wrong, I will have an occasional glass of wine, but do not enjoy being around people that have had too much to drink. I also can relate to the overprotective aspect of mothering…but I am the culprit. I don’t seclude my daughters, but I do have a daughter with heart defects and there isn’t a day that passes that I don’t try to protect her just a little bit more than you might a “regular” child. I think the part that I could relate to the most was the Needs section from her stay at Avalon. After reading that I knew that this was my type of woman – it was exactly the way I thought of things.

This was an excellent book, and one I would recommend highly. Great job Irene, and I look forward to more from you in the future!

About the author:

Irene Watson holds a Masters Degree in Psychology, with honors, from Regis University in Denver, CO. Her life has taken her on many paths, with breakthrough results and exemplar growth, to find her authentic and true self. She lives with her husband in Austin, Texas. You can visit her website at http://www.irenewatson.com/.

THE SITTING SWING VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘08 will officially begin on September 2, ‘08 and end on September 26, ‘08. You can visit Irene’s tour stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in September to find out more about her and her new book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com/ on September 26!

Irene’s virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Dorothy Thompson.

The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams

 

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press; Reprint edition (July 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416532528
ISBN-13: 978-1416532521

Book Synopsis:

In a time of discovery and decadence, when the gold that poured endlessly into the port of Sevilla devalued money, marriage, and love itself, young Juan Tenorio was abandoned and raised by nuns. He grew up loving and worshipping all women, but a clandestine affair with one of the sisters forces him to leave the Church-and his plans for the priesthood-forever. Juan becomes a spy, as well as the world’s greatest libertine. But far from the heartless seducer that legend recounts, he seeks liberation and redemption as much as personal pleasure and gratification. He begins to keep a diary of his greatest adventures and the Arts of Passion he has mastered. The most perilous adventure of all-the irresistible fall into the madness of love with the only woman who could ever make him forget all others-finally compels him to confess everything.

Douglas Carlton Abrams’s magical debut novel captures the heart of the Spanish Golden Age and the secret life of the world’s greatest lover-Don Juan-who came to embody the spirit that would inflame the modern age.

This year has really been a great one for me, and let me tell you why. In the past, if someone would have suggested a historical fiction book to me I would have told them that it wasn’t my kind of book. All of these years I have steered clear of books of this nature because while in school history was the subject that I liked the least. It is amazing what books like this can do, as now I jump at the chance to read books about history, fiction or not.

I admit going in that I didn’t know a whole lot about the legendary Don Juan. Just the same information that most of the general public knows…a true ladies man but not one to stay with one woman for any period of time. This book certainly gives the readers a new look into this man – he truly loved women and his goal was to bring them pleasure by getting them to feel confident about themselves and their bodies. I loved the way this book was written, it sheds a new light on this story and really makes me want to dig into the history of Don Juan and find out more about him.

Although this book is about Don Juan, Douglas does an excellent job of depicting 16th century Spain. One of my favorite part in the book is when Fray Ignacio comes to the convent to speak to the nuns about there being a heretic among them. After he questions the nuns, he decides to take one of them-Hermana Jeronima back to the headquarters of the Holy Office in Sevilla where she would be questioned further. She was being taken to the Inquisition…how horrifying!

This book was an excellent read, and with its fast pace made for a delightful weekend read. I would highly recommend it.

About the author:

Douglas Carlton Abrams is a former editor at the University of California Press and HarperSanFrancisco. He is the co-author of a number of books on love, sexuality, and spirituality, including books written with Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Yogacharya B.K.S. Iyengar, and Taoist Master Mantak Chia. He lives in Santa Cruz, California, with his wife and three children. In his life and work, he is interested in cultivating all aspects of our humanity —body, emotions, mind, and spirit. His goal in writing fiction is to create stories that not only entertain, but also attempt to question, enchant, and transform.

Doug’s desire in writing the book was not only to resurrect this greatest of historical lovers and to give voice to his true motives; he was also moved to write a book that would explore the tension between lust and love and that would confront the human question of how any man or woman can find lifelong satisfaction in one committed relationship. To find out more about the origins of The Lost Diary and the myth of Don Juan, and to learn about forthcoming novels, please visit www.LostDiaryofDonJuan.com or www.DouglasCarltonAbrams.com.

THE LOST DIARY OF DON JUAN VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR ‘08 will officially begin on September 2, ‘08 and end on September 26, ‘08. You can visit the Douglas’ tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in September to find out more about him and his new book!

As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors’ blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on September 26!

This virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Dorothy Thompson.

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And the winner is…

Ramya!  Congratulations, your name was drawn for my copy of Bleachers by John Grisham!  I will be contacting you by email to get your info.

Thanks to everyone who commented, it means so much to have readers who care.  Please make sure to check back as I will have another contest up in the VERY near future:)

Book Giveaway: Read Well, Think Well by Hal Lanse

It’s time for a book giveaway! Education expert Hal W. Lanse is giving away a copy of his latest book, READ WELL, THINK WELL!

In order to win, here are the rules:

• You must comment below with your working email address so that we can contact you.
• If you blog about this contest, leave a comment, telling us where you are blogging about it and that gives you 2 entries!
• Contest starts today and ends on September 29. The winner will be announced on this blog on Sept. 30.

Win Bleachers by John Grisham

So, here’s another one of those duplicate books…shame on me, I know.  But, my disorganization is good for all of you because it means a chance for free books.

This is the hardcover version of this book – and this one I have read and loved it.  If you haven’t read it, or don’t know what it’s about, here’s the synopsis:

High school all-American Neely Crenshaw was probably the best quarterback ever to play for the legendary Messina Spartans.  Fifteen years have gone by since those glory days, and Neely has come home to Messina to bury Coach Eddie Rake, the man who molded the Spartans into and unbeatable football dynasty.

Now, as Coach Rake’s “boys” sit in the bleachers waiting for the dimming field lights to signal his passing, they replay the old games, relive the old glories, and try to decide once and for all whether they love Eddie Rake – or hate him.  For Neely Crenshaw, a man who must finally forgive his coach – and himself- before he can get on with his life, the stakes are especially high. 

How do you win, you ask?  Couldn’t be easier!

Leave a comment for 1 entry – please remember to leave contact information so I know how to get in touch with you.

Blog about this contest with a link back for 5 additional entries – that’s right – 5!  Just make sure to let me know where you are posting so I can check it out:)

I will draw a winner on Sunday, August 31st, and will post about it on Monday.  Good luck everyone!

Want to win more books?  Visit Zensanity and Scribe Vibe for your chance!

The Face of Death by Cody McFadyen

Mass Market Paperback: 624 pages

Publisher: Bantam -July 29, 2008

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0553589946

ISBN-13: 978-0553589948

To purchase, please click here.

Book Synopsis:

A sixteen-year old girl holds a gun to her head at the scene of a grisly triple homicide.  She claims “The Stranger” killed her adoptive family, that hes’s been following her all her life, killing everyone she ever loved, and that no one believes her.  But Special Agent Smoky Barrett does.  Her team has been hand-picked from amont the nation’s elite law enforcement specialists and they are as obsessed and relentless as the psychos they hunt; they’ll have to be to deal with this case.

For another vicious double homicide reveals a killer embarked on a dark crusade of trauma and death: an “artist” who’s molding Sarah into the perfect victim – and the ultimate weapon.  To catch him, Smoky is going to have to put her own fragile, once-shattered life on the line.  For The Stranger is all too real, all too close, and all too determined.  And when he finally shows his face, Smoky had better be ready to face her worst fear.

Let me first preface this by saying – this book may not be for everyone.  I am a huge fan of shows like The First 48, and growing up in Wisconsin, we have had our fair share of nasty killers, most notably Jeffrey Dahmer.  Mr. McFadyen does something few authors have been able to do for me – he has actually made me cry during a portion of this book.  I will not go into details, but it involves the events of Sarah’s 6th birthday – heart wrenching, to say the very least.

As strange as this may sound, this review is hard for me to write.  Not because I don’t have a lot to say but because I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone.  This book is being placed in my top 10 books of 2008 for sure, and without going back to check my list I would say it was in the top 2 or 3.  Even though it is almost 600 pages long, once I started reading I had a VERY hard time putting it down.  His prose, in my mind, is comparable to one of the greatest writers of our time – Stephen King.  Like King, the description of not only the events, but of the characters, leaves no room for doubt – you feel as if you are standing there witnessing things firsthand, and like these characters are people that you really know.  This is something that is a rare find in an author, and should be truly commended, whether you like the subject matter of the book or not.

I think the hardest part for me was that initially no one believes Sarah.  This poor 6 year old witnesses something beyond my wildest imagination, and when trying to tell the police about it she is dismissed as confused.  My heart was literally breaking for this poor innocent child.  Once you read this, you will realize not only why she isn’t believed (the killer does a good job of covering his tracks and making things look other than what they are), and then you will realize how deep corruption can go.  He also demonstrates how far the human mind can go without actually breaking – Sarah’s journey is fraught with such evil, and yet she somehow keeps at least a shred of sanity. 

Don’t get me wrong, this book isn’t ALL about murder (although to be honest the vast majority is fairly gruesome).  The relationship between Smoky and her team is fabulous – even James who is “the odd man out”.  As Smoky herself says “He can peer into the mind of a killer and not blink.  He can gaze at evil full in the face and then pick up a magnifying glass to get a closer look.”  This is the same ability Smoky has, which makes her the best in the business.  And, she needs someone with that same ability to bounce ideas off of – no matter how difficult he is to work with.  Bonnie, Elaina, Alan, and Callie are all very developed and you grow to really get a feel for the relationship between all of them.  And despite all of the horror they have all been through…literally…this has helped them to form a bond of friendship and love that is beautiful.

On that note, I would like to talk about something in the book that I feel was my favorite part.  No, no, it really has nothing to do with the murders at all.  It has to do with Matt (Smoky’s dead husband) and Smoky’s legacy to their daughter Alexa (I must read Cody’s first book to find out what happened here…I must, I must, I must!!!).  They weren’t wealthy, but wanted to make sure they could leave her something if anything ever happened to them, something that maybe wasn’t worth a lot of money, but truly spoke of who they were as people.  And what might that be, you ask?  They create a library for her, and add to it whenever they can.  I have been doing the same thing for my daughters – granted, it started before they were born because I am such a bibliophile, but I think it is such a great idea.  What better gift to give anyone, than a library full of books?!  Love it, love it, love it!

Truly a must read for anyone – queasy stomachs beware!

About the author:

Cody Mcfadyen was born in Texas in 1968. He designed websites before selling his first novel, Shadow Man, in 2005. He has since had a second book – The Face of Death – published. Both were international best sellers. He lives in Southern California with his two black labs, often referred to as ‘The Black Forces of Destruction.’ He drinks coffee (copiously), plays guitar (badly), and reads (voraciously). He abhors adverbs in writing, except when used in short bios like this one.

For more information, visit www.codymcfadyen.com

I also want to thank Pump Up Your Book Promotion – you ladies ROCK!

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Copper Fire by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Paperback: 296 pages

Publisher: Vintage Romance Publishing May 30, 2008

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0981559204

ISBN-13: 978-0981559209

To Purchase, click here.

Book Synopsis:

On a summer day in 1945, Louisa Gordon receives a telegram from the International Red Cross Tracing Service.  Her young cousin, Elisabeth, has just been released from Dachau, a concentration camp, and Louisa is her only remaining relative.

Determined to go to war-torn Germany to retrieve her cousin, Louisa is also on a mission to discover the whereabouts of Friedrich Mueller, a Nazi sympathizer who fled Copper Springs, Arizona.  What Louisa never expected was to meet the man she had once loved.  And now hated.

Copper Fire is the second book in the Copper Star series.  I was thrilled as you don’t have to read the first one to be able to enjoy this story, although I for one have added it to my ever growing TBR list.  Louisa Gordon has tried to start a new life in Copper Springs.  She has left Germany, and although there are things that she misses, she knows that going back is not an option.  And, she is happy.  She is married to Robert, the pastor of the small community of Copper Springs.  But more importantly, she is raising his son William as her own.  The only obstacle she incurs on a daily basis is Robert’s Aunt Martha, who lives with him.  But, if this is the worst she has to deal with, she is more than capable.

All this changes when one day she receives word that her cousin Elisabeth has been located in a Red Cross camp for displaced persons in Germany, and they are looking for someone to claim her before she is left to fend for herself.  After some fancy work, she is able to make the long trip abroad, which she has mixed feeling about.  She is so excited to be able to go an see Germany and claim her relative, but she is afraid of what effect seeing her country in its devestation will take on her. 

I don’t believe in giving away too much of the plot but here is some food for thought:

Elisabeth does come to live with Robert and Louisa, but is she more than they bargained for? 

Louisa resumes contact with her former fiance, someone who hurt her so bad in the past but is trying to make up for it.  Are his intentions noble?

Will Friedrich Mueller be found in Copper Springs, and if so what has brought him back?

Suzanne has done an excellent job of spinning a tale to engage all readers, and by pulling in Nazis, concentration camps, theft, spies, and unconditional love, it would be hard to find someone who wouldn’t enjoy this book.

About the author:

Suzanne Woods Fisher’s bestselling debut novel, Copper Star, was the recipient of three literary awards by Reader Views.  A former contributing editor for Christian Parenting Today magazine, Fisher lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and children.  When she’s not writing books, she raises puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind.

For more information, visit www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

Once again, give it up to PUMP UP YOUR PROMOTION for this awesome opportunity!

Book Blogger Appreciation Week

How cool is this?  September 15-19 is going to be Book Blogger Appreciation Week.  Want in on the action?  All you have to do is visit My Friend Amy for more details!

I have won another book:)

I meant to post this the other day, but have gotten busy doing a bunch of other things.  My friend Breeni of Breeni Books has chosen my name to win Willow in the Storm by James Peter Taylor and Kathleen Murphy-Taylor.  Haven’t heard of this book?  Check Breeni’s blog for an awesome review and an out and out awesome blog.  Thanks again Breeni, you made my day…you know how much I love winning books:)

Win Gilding Lily

This is Julie’s first ever book giveaway, so be sure to jump over to Julie’s Jewels for your chance to win!

Time for another book giveaway

Ok.  It’s a sad day.  No, no one has died, but in our apartment I just don’t have enough room to display all of my books.  So, for the time being I have agreed (rather reluctantly) to pack up the books that I have already read.  These will be stored somewhere in the house for now until I get shelves and things up for them.

It might be a good thing.  Now when I go into my book closet (yes, I have a closet with shelves that I am using to hold my books) I can grab a book randomly and know I haven’t read it before.  And, as long as it isn’t part of a series I will read it.

But, anyway.  This also has made me able to see that I do have duplicates of some books.  I have found two already (and will post about the other tomorrow) and am sure I will find more.  So, here goes:

The book I am raffling of is Dead Time by Stephen White.  It is an Advance Uncopyedited Manuscript and is a large paperback. 

What do you need to do to enter you ask?  There are a few ways to enter, and to gain extra entries as well.

1.  Leave me a comment.  Please include a way to contact you.  This will gain you 1 entry

2.  Blog about it and leave a link to this post.  Again, make sure to tell me where to find this so I can see it – this will gain you 2 entries.

3.  Subscribe to my blog.  Once again, let me know that you have done so.  this will gain you 3 entries.

GOOD LUCK!  I will draw a winner on Monday, August 18th.  Thanks for visiting!

Win a copy of Read Well, Think Well by Hal Lanse

Come on, everyone loves a chance to win a free book, right? Book Marketing Buzz is hosting a 10 book giveaway extravaganza and the ten books we’ll be giving away are being donated by education expert and author Hal W. Lanse, Ph.D. in his fight to help our children learn how to read!

Help Hal in his fight to promote his book and he’ll help YOU find out what it takes to teach your child how to read and understand what they’re reading!

To find out more about Hal and his book, visit his website at www.readwellthinkwell.com and don’t forget to leave your suggestion in the comments section!  What better way to end your summer with a free book that will help get rid of illiteracy in today’s children???

There is a slight catch on this one.  To get more details, please click on the Book Marketin Buzz link above.  Good luck everyone!

Left to Die by Lisa Jackson

Paperback: 484 pages

Publisher: Zebra August 1, 2008

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1420102761

ISBN-13: 978-1420102765

To purchase, click here.

Book Synopsis:

One by one, the victims are carefully captured, toyed with, then subjected to a slow and agonizing death.  Piece by piece, his exquisite plan takes shape.  The police can’t yet see the beauty in his work – but soon, very soon, they will…

In the lonely woods around Grizzly Falls, Montana, four bodies have been discovered.  Detectives Selena Alvarez and Regan Pescoli have been hoping for a career-making case but this is a nightmare.  Even with the FBI involved, Selena and Regan have nothing to go on but a killer’s cryptic notes, and the unsettling knowledge that there is much worse to come…

When Jillian Rivers opens her eyes, she’s trapped in a mangled car.  Then a stranger, claiming to be a trail guide named Zane MacGregor, pries her free.  Though she’s grateful, something about him sets Jillian on edge.  And, if she knew what lay out there in the woods of Montana, she’d be truly terrified.  Because someone is waiting…watching…poised to strike and make Jillian the next victim…

I reviewed Lost Souls a few months back and that was the first Lisa Jackson book that I had read.  I knew after reading it that it wasn’t going to be my last as I just loved her style and content.  I also was shocked when I walked into Wal-Mart and saw the hardcover right in front of me.  It was then I told my hubby, see, that’s one of the books I just reviewed for Pump Up Your Book Promotion - it was really pretty cool!  So, needless to say, when I was asked whether I would be willing to review Left to Die I jumped at the chance.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to be as good as Lost Souls but let me tell you, it was even better.

Let me first start by saying I was thrilled to see that the two lead characters are female detectives.  Selena Alverez and Regan Pescoli couldn’t be more different in both their personal lives and the way they approach the cases they are handed are also very different.  But they fit together like two puzzle pieces and their drive and work ethic is what is sorely needed in their department to catch the sadistic serial killer that is on the loose.   They were hoping to make a name for themselves but this case is quickly turning into a nightmare, with a killer that is calculating and flawless in all of his actions.

The serial killer in this book is chilling…no pun intended.  He sets up his victims by shooting out their tires as they are driving through a ravine.  They loose control of their vehicles and crash, causing them to be totally helpless.  So, when a nice stranger rescues them and nurses them back to health, who would think that he would then lead them to an icy death, tied to a tree, naked, left to brave the elements, and essentially succumb to them. 

 

This book had me on the edge of my seat, literally.  I am so thrilled to have been given the opportunity to review two of Lisa’s books and can’t wait for the sequel – Chosen to Die.  This is a must read for anyone who is interested in suspense and truly not being able to guess the ending. 

To view an awesome book trailer see below:

 About the author:

Lisa Jackson can’t keep away from murderers, especially serial killers.  She’s been killing people everywhere from Savannah and New Orleans to San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest—and it’s been worth it.  Her readers come back again and again, and her novels are fixtures on national bestseller lists. In fact, her book Fatal Burn was a number one New York Times paperback bestseller, and the first two of her novels to be published in hardcover, Shiver and Absolute Fear, were in the top five on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Next, readers will be looking for LOST SOULS, being published in hardcover by Kensington Books to go on sale March 25^th. 

Having made serial killing her business—sort of—she has put her characters through the wringer. They have been up to their necks in danger and stared death, usually a pretty gory one, right in the face.  She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional and downright twisted.  As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims, and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families. 

Lisa began writing at the urging of her sister, novelist Nancy Bush. Inspired by the success of authors she admired and the burgeoning market for romance fiction at the time, Nancy was convinced they could work together and succeed.  They sat down, determined to write and to be published.

They did and they were. 

Initially they wrote together. Later, they moved in different directions. Lisa brought more and more suspense to her work and began writing much darker stories.  Nancy’s writing expanded to include not just her own novels, including her highly praised Jane Kelly Mysteries, such as the recently published Ultraviolet. She also spent several years writing for one of television’s leading soap operas, even transplanting herself for a time from the sister’s Pacific Northwest roots to Manhattan. This year, they plan to work together again on a thriller set for publication in 2009.

Meanwhile, for Lisa the killing continues as this mother, daughter, workaholic and amazing writer continues her habit of making the hair stand up on the back of readers’ necks, and  landing  her books on The  New York Times, the USA Today, and the Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.

Lisa Jackson’s novels include the upcoming LOST SOULS and the best sellers Absolute Fear, which will be published in paperback for the first time in March, Hot Blooded, Cold Blooded, The Night Before, The Morning After, Deep Freeze, Fatal Burn, and Almost Dead.  Last year, Most Likely to Die was written by Lisa, Beverly Barton and Wendy Corsi Staub was published and became a number three New York Times paperback bestseller. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers and the Romance Writers of America.

For more information, please visit www.lisajackson.com

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I’m a winner!

Wow, what a great day yesterday.  I received and email from Bookroomreviews telling me that I was one of the lucky winners of a box of 14 books from The Hachette Group -woo hoo!  I was so excited!  If you ask the hubby, he’ll say the last thing I need is more books, but hey, what does he know?

Make sure you head over there for a chance to win some great books and just see a great blog – thanks again!

Dead Ringer by Mary Burton

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Zebra October 28, 2008

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1420100270

ISBN-13: 978-1420100273

To purchase, click here.

Book Synopsis:

Beside each body, he leaves a simple charm bearing a woman’s name.  Ruth.  Martha.  Judith.  The victims were strangers to each other, but they have been chosen with the utmost care.  Each bears a striking resemblance to Kendall Shaw, a local anchorwoman…each brutally strangled by a madman whose obsession will never end…

In front of the cameras, Kendall is the picture of stylish confidence.  But at night she’s haunted by nightmares in which she is young, alone, and filled with fear.  Are these memories-or omens?  Despite warnings from Richmond Detective Jacob Warwick, Kendall can’t stop investigating the recent string of murders.  She knows she holds the key to catching an obsessed psychopath-if he doesn’t get to her first…

The deeper Kendall and Jacob dig into the victims’ backgrounds, the more terrifying the discoveries.  For from the shadows of the past, a legacy of evil has resurfaced.  Every murder, every moment has been leading to Kendall.  And this time, nothing will stop the killer making her his final victim…

Jacob Warwick and Kendall Shaw have a past – a past both of them are trying desparetly to put behind them.  Connected through a serial killer dubbed The Guardian, both of them are emotionally scarred and not willing to open up to anyone.  When Jacob gets called to the scene of a murder, the resemblance of the victim to Kendall is obvious.  He doesn’t put too much thought into it, he has a lot on his plate and thoughts of Kendall are something he has tried to bury for awhile now, no matter how hard it is.  It just so happens that Kendall is ready for some action and is sick of being an anchorwoman sitting behind a desk dishing out the news.  She is popular with the public, and her boss decides to take a chance and send her out to try and get a lead on the murder.  Sparks fly between Jacob and Kendall, but due to the situation and their respective jobs emotions are mixed and they do their best to avoid each other.

Another murder is reported, and at this point it is painfully obvious that both of these victims look like Kendall…and that she is in danger.  Jacob does his best to keep her safe, but is his best going to be good enough?  With many plot twists, and an ending that would make Hitchkock proud, Ms. Burton has a way of making even the most minor character come to life.  I will make sure to read her first book as well – I’M WATCHING YOU.  This is one author that is now on the top of my list for must reads.  Wonderful!

About the Author:

MARY BURTON’s southern family has always enjoyed tall tales and a good yarns.  Early on, MB realized that Story had tremendous power to inspire strong responses such fear, laughter, love and even sorrow.   It didn’t matter if the tale was found in the pages of a book, spoken in hushed tones around a Girl Scout campfire, or spouted at an old fashioned southern family reunion.  This appreciation of story motivated MB to earn an English degree from Virginia’s Hollins University.

After decade of working in marketing and sales, MB became convinced she could write and sell one of the many stories buzzing around her brain.  Fingers crossed, MB left the marketing profession and devoted all her spare time to writing a novel.  Soon after, she sold her first manuscript to Harlequin Historicals.  Since that initial sale, MB had written twelve historical romances for Harlequin Historicals, four short romantic suspenses for Silhouette Romantic Suspense and a non-fiction book The Insider’s Guide to Direct Marketing.  Her first single title romantic suspense for Zebra I’m Watching You is a December 2007 release.

In 2005, The Unexpected Wife was a finalist Romance Writers of America’s RITA contest and Wise Moves was 2006 nominee for the Romantic Times’ Critics Choice Award.  I’m Watching You received critical acclaim from New York Times Best Selling author Carla Neggers who said, “Taut, compelling and emotional, I’m Watching You is romantic suspense at its most riveting.  Mary Burton delivers a page-turner.”

MB resides in Virginia where she enjoys yoga, cooking, hiking and the occasional triathlon.

For more info, please visit www.maryburton.com

The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

Hardcover: 384 pages

Publisher:Ballantine Books -July 29, 2008 

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0345501845

ISBN-13: 978-0345501844

To Purchase, click here.

Book Synopsis:

Juana of Castile, the last queen of Spanish blood to inherit her country’s throne, has been for centuries and enigmatic figure shrouded in lurid myth.  Was she the berefet widow of legend who was driven mad by her loss, or has history misjudged a woman who was ahead of her time?  In his stunning new novel, C.W. Gortner challenges the myths about Queen Juana, unraveling the mystery surrounding her to reveal a brave, determined woman we can only now begin to fully understand.

The third child of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain, Juana is born amid her parents’ ruthless struggle to unify their kingdom, bearing witness to the fall of Granada and Columbus’s discoveries.  At the age of sixteen, she is sent to wed Philip, the archduke of Flanders, as part of her parents’ strategy to strengthen Spain, just as her youngest sister, Catherine of Aragon, is sent to England to become the first wife of Henry VIII.

Juana finds unexpected love and passion with her handsome young husband, the sole heir to the Habsburg Empire.  At first she is content with her children and her life in Flanders.  But when tragedy strikes and she inherits the Spanish throne, Juana finds herself plunged into a battle for power against her husband that grows to involve the major monarchs of Europe.  Besieged by foes on all sides, her intelligence and pride used as weapons against her, Juana vows to secure her crown and save Spain from ruin, even if it could cost her everything.

I admit it.  I am a history snob.  I don’t know what it is, but ever since I was young I found history boring and it was always my worst subject in school.  But, I have been fortunate to have seen the error of my ways, and this book is a prime example. 

To be totally honest, I have never heard of Juana of Castile.  This book has truly compelled me to learn more.  After being part of an arranged marriage, Juana is unsure what is to become of her life.  Her mother, Isabel, Queen of Castile, and Father, Fernando, King of Aragon, have worked hard to make their two countries unite and will do anything to ensure that their people are safe. They have arranged the marriage as a way of securing power and freedom for their people.

Even though Juana is less than thrilled about marrying a complete stranger, she has the same tenacity that is characteristic of  her mother and agrees for the good of the country.  She is pleasantly surprised when she finally meets her husband, Philip, the Archduke of Flanders.  Their marriage is riddled with love and passion that most newlyweds wish for and things seem to be going exceptionally well.  Until Juana catches him in bed with another woman while pregnant with her first child.  Philip is flabbergasted and apologizes profusely, but this is just the start of a life of betrayal that is to be Juana’s curse.

Growing up, I think a lot of little girls (mine included) dream of being a princess.  When you read a book like this, you realize that being royalty is not so much of a blessing as a burden.  Everything you do is scrutinized and you are expected to act and carry yourself in a certain way.  But we see, time and time again, that Juana was courageous and wouldn’t change her beliefs for anyone.  Even after tragedy strikes, Juana is prepared to take her rightful place as Queen, even if it means fighting those she is closest too.  In the end it just wasn’t enough.  In a shocking turn of events she ends up a prisoner and is never allowed to fulfill her rightful place as Queen. 

Many historians have speculated that Juana was schizophrenic and that is what led to the imprisonment that she endures for most of her life.  Mr. Gortner does and excellent job of portraying a vibrant woman whose sanity was stretched to its limits by the betrayal and cruelty that would likely break any “sane” person.  I applaud his efforts to show us the other side of Juana la Loca and show that maybe she wasn’t insane after all, but simply a victim of circumstances.

About the author: 

C.W. GORTNER’s fascination with history, in particular the Renaissance, is a lifetime pursuit.  He holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Writing with an emphasis on Renaissance Studies from the New College of California and has taught university seminars on the 16th century.  In addition, he travels extensively to research his books.  He has experienced life in a medieval Spanish castle and danced a galliard in a Tudor great hall; dug through library archives all over Europe; and tried to see and touch—or, at least, gaze at through impenetrable museum glass—as many artifacts of the era as he can find. 

He has served on the board of the Women’s National Book Association/SF Chapter, an organization that promotes literacy, and he’s a regular contributor to the Historical Novels Review and Solander, publications of the Historical Novel Society. He is also a passionate advocate for animal rights and environmental issues. 

Raised in Málaga, Spain, C.W. Gortner is half-Spanish by birth and fully bilingual.  He currently lives in Northern California.

For more information, please visit www.cwgortner.com

 

A special thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for hosting this awesome book!

 

 

 

 

 

 

What Your Mother Never Told You by Richard Dudum

Guest Review by Kylee Pierce of Kylee’s Book Blog

Paperback: 264 pages

Publisher: BookSurge Publishing (November 15, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1419678698

ISBN-13: 978-1419678691

A Definite Must Read

5 stars

Richard Dudum does a fantastic job of talking to young women in this book. The language, on occasion, is blunt and may put off some parents reading this book, but please do not let that stop you.

I have a 14 year old daughter who will be starting high school in the fall and she WILL be reading What Your Mother Never Told You this summer. Mr Dudum makes so many great points in this book. This book is broken up into 10 parts (11 if you include the section of Appendices) beginning with “Perceptions and Communication Skills” which deals with, in part, “Body Language”. I think few girls understand that how they dress and act (flirting, etc) effect how boys will treat them. Should everyone treat everyone else the same, yes, do they, no.

With other subjects, such as “Your Parents”, Mr Dudum let’s the girls in on the secret that they didn’t come to us with a manual. We don’t know what we’re doing most of the time; most of us are winging it. He gives them tricks and tools for dealing with us.

In the Prologue Richard M Dudum states his wish that this book would become required reading for middle school girls. I wholeheartedly agree with him. This book is chock full of helpful and important information for young girls/women. In my humble opinion, this book should be in every middle school library for 8^th grade girls to read. It should be in every high school library as well. What Your Mother Never Told You should become a reference book for these young women. A book to turn to when they are having trouble, because let’s face it, as much as we wish and want our children to turn to us when they have a question, they don’t always feel like we’ll listen to them. With this book in your home, you have a tool for your girls to begin a dialogue with you in an effortless manner (leave it out in the living room/kitchen with a bookmark in the appropriate chapter).

Thank you Richard M Dudum!

 

Another chance for 14 books

Here we go, another chance to win those fantastic books from Hachette Book Group.  To enter, please visit Bookroomreviews Weblog - you can earn a lot of extra entries so don’t miss out on this, it is an excellent contest!

I’ve Been Awarded!

What a great way to start the day!  My friend at My Journey Through Reading has nominated me for this awesome award, I am truly honored:) 

Here are the guidelines given to me: Once an award is received, the rules are as follows:

1. Put the logo on your blog.

2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.

3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.

4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

My nominees (In NO particular order):

 

1.  Shawnee at Reading in Appalachia

2.  Breeni at Breeni Books

3.  Trisha at Obsessed Reader

4.  My Reading Nook

5.  Puss Reboots

6.  The Bookaholic

7.  Reviewing Whatever

 

Thanks again and happy Thursday!

 

Win a $20 Giftcard to Borders

Have I told you lately how much I love books? LOL!  It should certainly be evident by my blog, and my new blog located at http://zensanity.blogspot.com  I was fortunate to come across The Koolaid Mom, another really cool blog.  Not only that, but the giftcard has a picture of The Lorax, my favorite Dr. Seuss book.  Hmmmmm, maybe it’s fate?  I’ll have to wait patiently and see.  Make sure to visit for a great chance to win.

Win a copy of The Host by Stephenie Meyer

One of the most anticipated books is being GIVEN away, that’s right, for free.  Please visit Peeking Between the Pages for your chance to win. Be sure to check out the blog as well, it’s excellent!

Sisters of Misery by Megan Kelley Hall

Reading level: Young Adult

Paperback: 272 pages

Publisher:Kensington (July 29, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0758226799

ISBN-13: 978-0758226792

Book Synopsis:

There are some girls who have everything.  She has the right clothes, the right friends, and the right last name, but fifteen-year-old Maddie Crane sometimes feels like an outsider in her wealthy seaside town.  And when her gorgeous, eccentric cousin Cordelia LeClaire moves to town, Maddie is drawn toward her ethereal, magical spirit and teeters even more toward the edge of her friends’ tightly-knit circle…

Then there are the jealous ones.  Kate Endicott and the Sisters of Misery – a secret clique of the most popular, powerful girls in school – are less than thrilled by Cordelia’s arrival.  When Kate’s on-again, off-again boyfriend Trevor takes an interest in Cordelia, the Sisters of Misery become determined to make her pay…

Now  Maddie must choose between her loyalty to her cousin and the wrath of the Sisters of Misery…

All I can say is WOW!!!  There is nothing more thrilling than finding an author who has the capabilities of luring you into their story and not letting go.  I fell straight in, and didn’t resurface until the book was finished, reading it straight through.  Hawthorne is right next to Salem and is described perfectly in this passage from the book:

There was the Hawthorne that most people talked about: the one with the stories as old and weathered as the shingles of the historic houses.  The town that’s picture postcard perfect, a Currier and Ives landscape filled with the scents of apple cider in the fall, pine and woodsmoke in the winter, and honey and jasmine in the summer.  The town known for sailing and quaint shops and an envialbe coastline.

And then there were the legends.

Stories of ghostly soldiers that still lurked outside the Old Sandy Dog Tavern and the specter of Jack Derby, the tyranical sheriff who terrorized the town over two hundred years ago.  But the most startling of all were the townspeople reporting the sensation of a small hand reaching up to grab hold and be helped across the street – the tiny hand of Hester Proctor, who died so many years ago trampled by a horse and wagon.

During the times of the witch hunts, three sisters were killed on Misery Island.  Trying to recover, the town has tried to put all of the “evil” of the past behind it and become the perfect tourist town.  Unfortunately, the past isn’t willing to give up that easy.

Maddy Crane seems to have it all from the outside but looks can be deceiving.  One thing she does have is a coveted spot in the elite group known as The Sisters of Misery.  A clique of sorts, these girls rule the town, and previous members are all prominent members of the community.  The Sisters of Misery is led Kate Endicott, a girl not only looked up to, but feared as well.  Maddie knows that even if she wanted to, she will never leave the club for fear of what may happen to her.  

A spot of happiness is about to grace her doorstep.  Her aunt Rebecca and cousin Cordelia have moved in to the house she shares with her Grandmother and mother.  Her aunt and mother are like night and day, and so are her and Cordelia.  But, as time passes Cordelia becomes her best friend.  She is truly a free spirit, and eccentric, but these are some qualities that Maddie is hoping to embrace.  So, when the Sister of Misery taunt her and treat her poorly, Maddie doesn’t know what to do but try and ignore it.  Cordelia, strong as she is, doesn’t put up with any of it.  So, when they decide to do a ritual ceremony out on Misery Island, Cordelia decides to come along to experience what is so special about this group.  Kate has plans for Cordelia, and has been studying up on the witchcraft that their town is notorious for.  Maddie witnesses some of the torture her cousin endures before passing out and waking up at home.  Cordelia is nowhere to be found and the Sisters aren’t talking.  Frantic, Maddie fights to gain clues as to what happened to her cousin, at any cost.

This was such an excellent read and I am hopeful that the author will honor me by allowing me to review her future books – EXCELLENT!!

 

Beneath a Buried House by Bob Avey

Paperback: 226 pages

Publisher: Deadly Niche Press (June 15, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0937660817

ISBN-13: 978-0937660812

To purchase, click here.

Book Synopsis:

Things aren’t always what they seem.  Tulsa Police Detective, Kenny Elliot’s qutes to uncover the truth behind the death of a transient makes him a target – from whom or what he isn’t sure.  When he brushes the dirt from the surface of an apparent John Doe overdose case, he finds a labyrinth of misdirection and deception beneath, and a trail, which leads him to an encounter with an aberration in human nature, the likes of which he’s not prepared to deal with.  Drawing on his strength of character, and sense of right and wrong, he wrestles with deep personal feelings to solve the case.

Excerpt from the book:

BENEATH A BURIED HOUSE  
Chapter 1  
 
People go missing. Llewellyn knew that as well as anyone but when a whole family fell victim to such a fate, that tended to get his attention. It had the interest of someone else as well. Threats had been made. But the way he saw it, with Millie gone, he didn’t have all that much to lose anyway.  
 
Llewellyn watched his step as he moved from the sidewalk to the street, for it was dark, the sun skimming the bottom of the sky in a thin, red line, the color of embers clinging to life in a dying campfire. A disturbing thought—a deep suspicion that had grown to such proportion that he feared it might twist his reasoning—snaked through him. He’d previously abandoned the project with good reason.  
 
At times like this, he would think back to when he was a boy, visiting his mother. Her house sat on a small hill and behind it was a pond with huge willow trees growing from its banks. It always struck him as odd that the surface of the water remained calm and never rippled, as if it were not real at all, but a painting, an artificial backdrop put there for the effect.  
 
Llewellyn had resolved that he too would be like the waters of the pond, unmovable, unflappable, and later, during his adult life, he would call on that image, not every time the going got tough, but when life got particularly hard.  
 
He stared at the dilapidated building with a sign hanging from it; a cheap plastic job with florescent lights inside that backlit the bar’s name: CYMRY’S.  
 
He shook his head and pushed open the door, a heavy wooden model that looked out of place, as if it had been ripped from the hinges of an old house and brought there against its will.  
 
Just inside the door, Llewellyn paused, and when his eyes adjusted to the darkness he took a seat in the second booth by the window, like the man who called himself Jerry Sinclair had told him to do. Llewellyn was five minutes late, and he hoped that wouldn’t matter, though he saw no one fitting Sinclair’s description. At least the darkness was explained. It was the décor, which included the walls and the ceilings, and even the floors. Everything was black with the exception of a large piece of red artwork that radiated from the center of the floor in a rather unprofessional manner, as if it were a bad afterthought, the awkward brushstrokes obvious even from a distance.  
 
Llewellyn waited but no one showed. He checked his watch. Thirty minutes had passed. He slid out of his seat and went to the bar. The man had his back turned but a mirrored wall showed his face. He must’ve known Llewellyn was there though he did not acknowledge him. Llewellyn laid a five on the counter. “I’d like a beer, please.”  
 
The man gave no visible indication he had heard the request.  
 
“I’ll just cut to the chase then,” Llewellyn said. “What I really need is some information.”  
 
Turning around, the man drew a pint of lager, then set it down and snatched up the five. “What kind of information?”  
 
Llewellyn slid his hand around the cool, damp handle, then brought the mug to his lips, relishing the bitter yet soothing brew. After a few sips, he said, “Does the name Jerry Sinclair mean anything to you?”  
 
“Doesn’t jump out at me.”  
“He said he would be wearing blue jeans and a tan corduroy jacket. Have you seen anyone like that?”  
“Not since the eighties.”  
“Right, some people are habitually late. Perhaps Mr. Sinclair is one of those.” After a pause, unable to control his inquisitiveness, Llewellyn asked, “What’s up with the artwork on the floor?”  
 
The bartender leaned forward, placing his beefy hands on the railing. “Don’t know. It’s always been there.”  
 
Llewellyn had dealt with his kind before; smug, confident with his size, and, as with any animal, the less challenging you could make yourself the better your odds were. He slouched a little. “Do you know what it is?”  
 
“Maybe.”  
 
The bartender said this with a crooked grin, as if he and he alone were privy to the mysteries of the universe, which undoubtedly meant he knew nothing.  
 
“If I had to guess,” Llewellyn said, “I’d say it has something to do with the occult. But what do I know?”  
 
Llewellyn retrieved one of his business cards and held it out. “I’m a reporter, on assignment.”  
 
Taking the card, the bartender examined it. “Florida? Long way from home, aren’t you?”  
 
“I go where the story takes me.”  
“Is that right?”  
“So you haven’t seen him, the guy I asked about?”  
“Who?”  
“Jerry Sinclair.”  
 
The bartender squinted. “Are you sure you’re in the right place?”  
“I’m sure.”  
“What kind of assignment are you on?”  
 
Llewellyn sipped his beer, then set it down. “I look for the unusual. A few years back, I was working some leads, concerning a small town near here. You know, bizarre circumstances and all of that. Good Stuff. I decided to revive it, made a few phone calls, sent some e-mails, ran an ad in the paper. Then I get this reply from Sinclair. He claimed to have some information. It’s not unusual. I get lucky like that sometimes.”  
 
Llewellyn heard the door and realized someone else had finally come into the place. The bartender had noticed as well, and Llewellyn took the opportunity to return to his booth by the window.  
 
Three people had come in, and unlike Llewellyn they did not look out of place inside Cymry’s, which meant they were not wearing dress pants and button-down shirts. Nor were any of them wearing blue jeans and a corduroy jacket.  
 
One of them, a tall, slender girl wearing tight leather pants, strolled across the floor, stopping in front of the jukebox. Llewellyn couldn’t imagine what kind of music might be popular in such a place, but it wasn’t the anticipation of the music that held his attention. Even dressed as she was, the girl captivated him and he could not stop looking at her, which was a mistake. That indefinable female sense that alerts a woman to a man’s attention seemed present in full force; she turned her head toward him.  
 
Llewellyn looked away. He was asking for trouble. He thought of Millie. Not once during their thirty years together had he cheated on her, and he wasn’t about to start now. He heard someone walk across the floor toward him, and he prayed that it would be Sinclair, that he had come through the door while Llewellyn wasn’t looking and was even now preparing to slide into the other side of the booth across the table from him.  
 
As a thick, musky smell of perfume crossed Llewellyn’s senses, desperation shot through him. He turned his head, looking at the smooth patch of skin between the bottom of her shirt and the beginning of her leather pants. A tattoo of Saint Brighid’s cross moved sensuously with the muscles of her stomach.  
 
She said nothing. Llewellyn could feel her staring down at him, and when he finally raised his head, allowing for the first time their eyes to meet, he felt like the victim in an old vampire movie: frightened by the nature of his captor but hopeful that she would find him desirable and as he looked into her face, the thought occurred to him that if the eyes are truly the windows to the soul then hers was surely dark.  
 
A color somewhere between purple and black graced her lips, as it did her fingernails. Her hair, which jabbed at the air in choreographed insolence, was as dark as either of these.  
 
Llewellyn slid deeper into the booth, exposing an unused section of the vinyl cushion. She sat down. Llewellyn began to wonder, and not for the first time, what sort of person she really was and why was he, a slightly over-the-hill freelancer, entertaining romantic thoughts about a distant cousin of Vlad the Impaler? She was no teenager, but still half his age, twenty-four or twenty-five he suspected, and about as far away from his type as you could get. The pressure of her leg against his made none of that seem to matter.  
 
She grinned. “You look a little out of place. Are you lost?”  
“I’m here on business.”  
 
She lit a cigarette, and in response to Llewellyn’s answer, she blew the smoke out a little harder than she needed to, the exhaust propelled into the air by something that could only be described as a prelude to a laugh. “What kind of business?”  
 
Llewellyn checked his watch. Nearly forty-five minutes had passed and still his contact had not shown. In his opinion, that was late, even for the very lax. “I’m meeting someone, or at least I was supposed to.”  
 
“Sounds to me,” she said, playing with the lapel of his jacket, “like maybe you just did.”  
 
Llewellyn nodded. He tried to concentrate, but his thoughts were all over the place.  
 
“Maybe your girlfriend changed her mind.”  
“Come again?”  
“Your little trick.”  
 
Llewellyn shook his head. “There’s no trick.”  
 
She leaned closer, bringing her shoulders forward in an unspoken offer.  
 
Llewellyn glanced up to see the bartender hovering over the booth. He wasn’t sure how he’d gotten there without his hearing him or seeing his approach. “This guy bothering you?” the bartender asked.  
 
The girl smiled and touched his arm, old friends apparently. “Nothing I can’t handle, Snub.” She reached over and took Llewellyn’s hand. “Just a little business.”  
 
“You know this guy?”  
 
She winked. “I do now.”  
 
The bartender turned and stalked away. He acted protective, like an older brother, siblings from the dark side looking out for one another. It amazed Llewellyn that no matter how low you sank in life, you could still find evidence of a sense of community.  
 
Llewellyn wondered what it might be like to be with this strange woman. Then, she leaned close, and with a kiss that teased with a slip of her tongue she said that she wanted him as well, or at least she intended to give him that impression.  
 
He pushed away slightly. “Look, I’m not sure this is a good idea.”  
 
“Yes you are. You’re just afraid to give in to it.”  
“You read me pretty well.”  
“I usually do.”  
 
Llewellyn felt insecure, trapped. “I really am meeting someone.”  
 
“So where are they?”  
“I don’t know. I’m starting to have my doubts.”  
 
She let go of Llewellyn’s hand and lit another cigarette. “Okay, I’ll lay it out straight. Sinclair sent me.”  
 
“Is that right? Why would he do that?”  
“I don’t know. But he said to tell you that he has the whole story, everything that you’re looking for.”  
 
She took a long draw on her cigarette. Llewellyn usually felt a mixture of sorrow and disdain when he saw someone do that, but she impressed him as someone who could handle just about anything, and anyone. His sense of good judgment, what he had left of it anyway, was telling him to excuse himself from this odd encounter, yet he resisted that urge. He hadn’t told her Sinclair’s name, and yet she knew it. He certainly hadn’t said anything about a story. He’d always been drawn to the unusual, the unexplained, that which frightens most people—and here it all was, epitomized in this intimidating yet fascinating person. “So what happens next?”  
 
“I’m supposed to take you somewhere. A private place where you can talk.”  
“Thanks,” Llewellyn said, indicating with a nudge that he was ready to leave. “But I really should be going.”  
 
He half expected her to move closer and refuse to let him out, but instead she slid from the booth. Llewellyn did the same and started for the door, and then it occurred to him that he had no car and there would be no cabs waiting on the street in this part of town. He signaled the bartender. “Could you call a cab?”  
 
The strange girl put her arm through Llewellyn’s, and he realized that not only had they not exchanged names but he had anticipated her actions and welcomed her touch. She evaluated him with her gaze. “Save the call, Snub. I’ve got a car.”  
 
The look on the bartender’s face said he was confused, and it seemed that in some strange way he might even be concerned for Llewellyn. “Whatever you think,” he said.  
 
“It’s nice of you to offer,” Llewellyn said to the girl, “but I hate to impose.”  
 
His resistance, though, was superficial at best. Still holding his arm, she shook her head and guided him through the door. Once they were outside, she pulled him close and they kissed again. He was in deep, and he knew it, but he kept going along with it. In the parking lot, they stopped beside a red Monte Carlo, and she did something that surprised Llewellyn. She tossed him the keys. “You drive.”  
 
Llewellyn stuck the key into the slot and opened the door, and after getting inside he reached over and unlocked the passenger side. She gave him directions and Llewellyn followed them, driving farther from his place with every block. A little later she said, “Turn here. We’ll park in the back.”  
 
When they got out of the car, Llewellyn glanced around the area, seeing a few spent wine bottles. “No offense,” he said, but I’m starting to have second thoughts about this. Maybe I should go.”  
 
“All right, but come in for a quick drink. I won’t keep you. I promise.” She ran a long nail along his jaw, making it an almost predatory gesture and an enticing one.  
 
As they approached the building, it occurred to Llewellyn that her place didn’t look much better than the bar.  
 
She turned to look at him and caught him surveying the lines of the building. “Neat old place, huh? I like it here, love the vibes, if you know what I mean.”  
 
“It does have character,” Llewellyn said.  
 
She unlocked the door and they stepped into a small landing. The place was grim, and populated, Llewellyn suspected, by various strata of socioeconomic defeat, and as they walked the red, carpeted hallway, a red that reminded Llewellyn of blood, he thought of Dante’s Inferno, for as they walked deeper into the building each successive apartment appeared more steeped in despair.  
 
The girl’s place was no exception, and once inside, Llewellyn could not imagine anyone actually living there. From a chip-edged kitchen table, she grabbed a bottle of bourbon and poured some into a glass, mixed in a little soda, and handed it to him.  
 
He swirled the amber mixture, unable to meet her eyes. His heart pounded. Leave. Just gulp it down and leave.  
 
Before he could consider other options, she took the untouched drink and placed it on the table. Then she took Llewellyn’s hand and placed it on her stomach, where she began to guide it upward, beneath her shirt, until it came to rest upon the warm, soft flesh of her breast.

I try to pride myself on guessing the outcomes of books.  I am not always right, mind you, but I do have a pretty good track record.  But dang it all, this one really stumped me.  I made a few guesses and not one of them was right.  Bob Avey has done a fantastic job of developing his characters and storyline to enthrall the readers up to the unexpected ending.

This is book two of a series, with the first book being “Twisted Perception”.  You will not need to read the first book in order to grasp the plot of this one, but I for one am going to make sure I read it so I can get some more background on Detective Elliot, a character that has all the right things.  Following a gut instinct has gotten him very far, as you will see in this book.  There are so many multiple twists in this one, if he had to go by evidence alone it may have never been solved. This was a quick read as the story grabs you and makes you want to keep reading right until the very last page.

About the author:

Bob Avey is the author of the Kenny Elliot mystery series, which includes Twisted Perception, released April 2006, and Beneath a Buried House, June 2008, several short stories and various non-fiction articles. He lives with his wife and son in Broken Arrow , Oklahoma where he works as an accountant in the petroleum industry, and when he’s not writing or researching mystery writing techniques, he spends his free time prowling through dusty antique shops looking for the rare or unusual, or roaming through ghost towns, searching for echoes from the past. Through his writing, which he describes as a blend of literary and genre, he explores the intricacies and extremities of human nature.

 Bob is a member of The Tulsa NightWriters, The Oklahoma Writers Federation (active board member for 2006), The Oklahoma Mystery Writers, and Mystery Writers of America.

Another new blog, but for a different reason

Hello my dear friends,

I am asking a favor of all of you.  I have had to create a new blog as I am “branching” out in the book world and am going to be coming on as a Tour Coordinator for Pump Up Your Book Promotion.  No worries, this blog will continue to stay up and running with reviews and the like.  This new blog will be more dedicated to author interviews and spotlights on books, but will also include reviews I imagine.  I have transferred some content over to it and would appreciate it if you would be so kind as to pop over and maybe even leave a comment or two.  Thanks again to all of you for continuing to visit, I can’t thank you enough.

To see the new blog, just click here.

Reading Slump

So, I admit it.  I have been in a reading slump lately.  I think part of it is the fact that my husband was laid off two months ago and we have had the extra time to spend together.  Instead of reading we got to really spend some quality time as a family.

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I haven’t been reading at all.  I just am not reading at a pace that I am accustomed to.  Instead of staying up late to read we have been able to stay up and catch up on movies that we have been waiting to see.  But, that will all come to an end starting tomorrow.  He has gotten a new job in Kaukauna, a town about an hours drive from here.  We will be moving there by the end of August, so that is something else to keep me busy.  We are going to keep our house and rent it out and just rent an apartment there for now.  With gas prices the way they are there is no way we can continue to afford to commute, and to be honest it is time for a change.  I love Manitowoc, it is right on Lake Michigan which is beautiful.  But I have lived here my whole life.  And there is so much to do in the Valley (Appleton, Oshkosh, Green Bay all within 20 minutes of each other) that it will be nice to start over and still be close enough to visit.

So, please make sure to check back often as raffles and reviews will start up again soon.  Thanks to all of you for sticking by me and continuing to visit my blog, I really do appreciate it more than you know.  Take care all!

Get paid to search the web – this is legit

Well, I had some free time today, something I don’t normally have.  And I mistyped and typed in bmail instead of gmail.  It brought me to a site where you can have an email address and get paid for searching the web through their site.  What the heck – another email is always good.  If interested, just click on the link below and become one of my friend:)

 

https://www.TheInvitationCard.com/public/Default.aspx?mrid=99itFpvfGx3OcgiDHOi/AQ==/

14 free books? Check out this giveaway!

Please visit http://trishsdiary.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/14-book-giveaway/#comment-2344

There is the chance to win 14 books, how great is this?!

From Crayons to Condoms by Steve Baldwin and Karen Holgate

Hardcover: 293 pages

Publisher: WND Books (June 3, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0979267110

ISBN-13: 978-0979267116

To purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

What’s really going at your local public school? In From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth About America’s Public Schools, Steven Baldwin and Karen Holgate let parents, concerned teachers and students speak for themselves about the dismal state of government education in America today. The conclusion? Today’s schools are laboratories for disaster, where failed methodologies and policies continually find new life thanks to bureaucracies more interested in maintaining power than in educating.

Lavishly armed with your tax dollars, government at every level encourages mass social experimentation on our kids – success optional. In From Crayons to Condoms you’ll discover…

* The lesbian gym teacher who hands out a paper called “101 Ways To Do It Without Going All The Way” in every class.
* The “Inventive Spelling” curriculum which demands of parents that they “avoid giving in to our natural desire to correct the mistakes” because it’s “harmful to the children”
* The “innovative name-calling” program for kindergarteners and first graders that teaches new words and concepts like “dyke” and “faggot.”
* The required courses in “death education” that actually encourage teen depression and suicide.
* The math classes in which students write down how they “feel” about math problems…as opposed to learning fractions, algebra and multiplication tables.

Today’s public schools are not just rife with bizarre, inaccurate textbooks and failed teaching practices – they encourage classroom activities that produce dangerous, even deadly, results.

Can our schools be saved? Yes say the authors, but only if parents are informed and ready to fight for their children every step of the way. The stories in From Crayons to Condoms: The Ugly Truth About America’s Public Schools are sure to horrify and energize anyone concerned about today’s kids – and our nation’s future.

I have two young girls and they have yet to reach the age where they will be going to school.  I have been fortunate to be able to stay home with them, but the time is drawing near where they will be leaving home to be educated.  This book was an eye-opener, but I must say that not all teachers or schools are run this way.  I do have 3 teachers in my family and I feel they do an excellent job of educating our children (granted, I am biased, lol).  Don’t get me wrong, I am not disregarding any of the information in this book.  It is truly helpful and will give you an idea of what can/may happen in your school district, just keep your eyes open because nothing is more important than the education of our children.

 

 

About the Author
Steven Baldwin is a long-time activist in the fight to reform America’s public schools. He served in the California Legislature, representing San Diego’s 77th District.

As Chairman of the California State Assembly Education Committee, he initiated a series of hearings that demonstrated how fads, failed methodologies and political correctness have devastated the California public school system, the nation’s largest – and one of the worst.

The co-author of “The Real Secret War,” Mr. Baldwin has appeared on numerous talk shows including Larry King Live, and has written articles published in the Regent University Law Review, Washington Times and Human Events. Mr. Baldwin is currently the Executive Director of the Council for National Policy (CNP).

Karen Holgate became an educational activist after joining the fight against hardcore pornography. During public speaking engagements, she began hearing from parents concerned about the sex education curricula being promoted in the public school system.

With her grandchildren in the public schools, she became involved in the myriad of problems besetting California’s education system. Soon she was traveling to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to meet with legislators to discuss the declining quality of education and the growing emphasis of non-academic content.

Mrs. Holgate’s articles and policy reports have appeared in publications including the Congressional Quarterly, Investors Business Daily, the Washington Times, and Insight Magazine. She has been interviewed by local and national radio shows, and has appeared on CBS, NBC and Fox News shows.

 Once again, thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

EW New 100 list of classics – I have a long way to go:)

I stole this from a friend of mine over at Musings of a Bookish Kitty.  Thom Geier of EW states up front that he expects disagreement with some of their choices. He explains that each of the selections were made with the idea that they have “endured in the public consciousness despite shrugs from academics.” They stand out in memory; some pushing the boundaries of what has come before. Regardless of whether we agree or not, it is an interesting list, isn’t it? A little bit of everything just about.

Since the EW Top 100 New Classics list (books published between 1983-2008) seems to be making the rounds, I thought I would join in on the fun as well. The titles in bold are ones I have read while those in italics are sitting in my TBR collection waiting to be read.

 
Since the EW Top 100 New Classics list (books published between 1983-2008) seems to be making the rounds, I thought I would join in on the fun as well. The titles in bold are ones- the rest will go to the TBR list, looks like the list just jumped up by quite a bit.  

 
 

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones’s Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World’s Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators’ Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

Mrs. Lieutenant by Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Excerpt from the back of the book:

They had their whole lives to look forward to if only their husbands could survive Vietnam.

In the spring of 1970- right after the Kent State National Guard shootings and President Nixon’s two-month incursion  into Cambodia – four newly married young women come together at Ft. Knox, Kentucky, when their husbands go on active duty as officers in the U.S. Army.

Different as these four women are, they have one thing in common: their overwhelming fear that, right after these nine weeks of training, their husbands could be shipped out to Vietnam – and they could become war widows.

Sharon is a Northern Jewish anti-war protester who fell in love with and ROTC cadet; Kim is a Southern Baptist whose husband is intensely jealous; Donna is a Puerto Rican who grew up in an enlisted man’s family; and Wendy is a Southern black whose parents have sheltered her from the brutal reality of racism in America.

Read MRS. LIEUTENANT to discover what happens as these women overcome their prejudices, reveal their darkest secrets, and are initiated into their new lives as army officers’ wives during the turbulent Vietnam War period.

Vietnam was before my time.  I have heard the horror stories and one of my all-time favorite movies is The Deer Hunter.  It is frightening to think of what these soldiers endured, some drafted, others enlisted, but both seeing sights that no human being should be witness to.

This book is about four very different women whose husbands are in officer training class in Kentucky.  As unlikely as it may seem, considering the background of these women, they become friends and bond during the six-week officer training course.   Thankfully they have each other, as the country is in turmoil due to the stress of being at war, a war that we were not wanted.  They each have a different set of circumstances they must overcome, but have their new found friends to rely on.

The author has done an excellent job of helping to portray the other side of the war, the women behind the men who served and the hardships they endured.  Truly a wonderful read and an eye opener, I would highly recommend it!

 About the author:

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is a former Mrs. Lieutenant and lives with her husband in Los Angeles.  The co-author of the Jewish holiday book “Seasons for Celebration,” she has written a success guide for teens (www.flippingburgersandbeyond.com).  She welcomes messages and visitors at www.mrslieutenant.com.

  Thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for this book!

A Special Summer by Victoria Wells

Paperback: 252 pages

Publisher: Xpress Yourself Publishing, LLC (January 22, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0979975778

ISBN-13: 978-0979975776

To purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

In love with the man of her dreams, Summer Jackson’s world is perfect bliss…so she thought.  Devestation rocks her very existence when handsome Nick Stiles walks out on her, leaving her to put the shattered pieces of her life back together again.

Month’s later, out of the blue, Nick reappears and is in for the shock of his life!  A love that once was so pure is plagued by heartbreak, deceit, and betrayal.  Will Summer and Nick find true love again?

A Special Summer is the debut novel by Victoria Wells.  I have to admit that I am not always the biggest fan of romance books.  I am not sure what it is about them that I don’t like, but I usually struggle to get through them.  That wasn’t the case in this novel, in fact, I can’t wait until her next as I will be anxious to read about characters introduced in this book.

Some might think that Summer Jackson and Nicholas Stiles are a match made in heaven.  Summer has her act together as a nurse but is extremely selective when it comes to the men she dates.  The last thing she wants is to be treated like a sex object, so when she collides with Nick at a charity event she dismisses their meeting, even though the attraction is intense.  Nick does coerce her number from her, and after hounding her for quite some time she finally relents to a date with him.  Once they are together it is obvious that they are perfect for each other.  They spend all of their free time together, which is limited due to Nick’s work habits.  Summer truly believes that she has found the man of her dreams, so when he abruptly ends their relationship claiming it is due to the fact that he has a business venture in Canada, and doesn’t believe in long distance relationships she is devestated.  He totally ignores her calls and tries to put her out of his life for good.  But it just isn’t that easy.

Eight months pass before Nick is back in town and he has realized one thing, stubborn as he is.  Summer truly is the one for him- he has been with no one else and has no desire to.  So, when he stops by Summer’s apartment unannounced he is shocked when she opens the door.  A secret has been kept from him, a secret they may not be strong enough to overcome.

The writing is exceptional and the characters, although flawed at times, are very real and easy to relate to.  Ms. Wells has done a fantastic job with this debut and I wish her all the success in the world!

Once again, thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for bringing this virtual tour!

About the author:

Victoria Wells is a Philadelphia native. She has been an avid reader since childhood. Wells’ interest in writing took root while taking a creative writing course in college. Her most memorable assignment was the rewriting of the last chapter of The Color Purple. Though she did very well in this course it would be years before she would pen a novel. 

 Professionally, Wells (Gaye Riddick-Burden) earned a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Nursing from La Salle University. Over her seventeen-year career as a nurse, Wells (Riddick-Burden) has written, lectured, and presented at national conferences extensively on sickle cell disease. Her dedication to caring for patients with this disease earned her the Regional and National 2005 Nursing Spectrum’s Nurse of the Year Nursing Excellence Award in Clinical Care. Nursing Spectrum wrote, “Riddick-Burden is a strong advocate for patients with sickle cell disease. She was instrumental in designing and implementing the outpatient Sickle Cell Day Treatment Unit for these often underserved patients. The program is driven by Riddick-Burden’s desire to provide timely and effective care to patients with sickle cell crisis – decreasing long waits in the ED and avoiding inpatient stays that separates patients from their families.”  

  Wells’ dedication to the nursing profession and work in the African American community organizing and running a free Hypertension Clinic at her church, Refuge Evangelical Baptist Church earned her another award. On March 19, 2006, Wells was awarded the Movers and Shakers Award presented by the American Women’s Heritage Society, National Association of University Women, National Association of Phi Delta Kappa, Top Ladies of Distinction and Two Thousand African American Women. At this ceremony the City Council of Philadelphia also presented her with a Citation.  

 Using writing as a tool to escape the hassles and worries of everyday life, Wells decided to pen a novel. In November 2006 she released her self-published debut romance novel, A Special Summer.  After receiving positive feedback and believing her story portrayed strong, intelligent, self-sufficient African American characters dealing with and working through relationship issues, Wells decided to submit her manuscript for traditional publishing. In August 2007, Xpress Yourself Publishing made an offer to re-release A Special Summer, March 4, 2008.

 

Wells works as an adult nurse practitioner. She is married and the proud mom of three children.

 

 

 

Prometheus Project : Trapped by Douglas E. Richards

REVIEWED BY KYLEE PIERCE

Reading level: Ages 9-12

Paperback: 140 pages

Publisher: Dna Press (February 2005)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0974876542

ISBN-13: 978-0974876542

To purchase, click here.

“The Prometheus Project: Trapped” by Douglas E. Richards is geared toward middle graders. Obviously, at 32, I’m a little outside that age group, but as a mom of two I think that I can ‘read like a child’ (if that makes sense).

In “Trapped” Ryan and Regan Resnick are forced by their parents to move to Beaverton, PA, ‘the middle of nowhere’ according to the children. After 6 weeks of boredom the kids are ready for adventure and boy do they find it! I don’t want to give away too much, but these kids get into (and cleverly out of) some trouble. The great thing (in my opinion) is the science back in science fiction.

Mr. Richards has a master’s degree in genetic engineering (and business). He is the father of two and wrote Trapped, as well as its sequel Captured, for his children after being unable to find an engaging sci-fi series for this age group.

I highly recommend this book for all middle school libraries. If you have a middle schooler that is into science or sci-fi, buy this book. If you have a reluctant reader who has an interest in science or adventure stories, buy this book.

Mr. Richards is currently working on an adult thriller and another kid’s thriller not set in the Prometheus Project universe. He hopes to write additional Prometheus Project books in the future as well.

Ghost Road Blues by Jonathan Maberry

REVIEWED BY SHAWNEE GOODNIGHT

Paperback: 480 pages

Publisher: Pinnacle (June 1, 2006)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0786018151

ISBN-13: 978-0786018154

To purchase, click here.

I realized very quickly that I was in for an exciting thrill ride when I started Jonathan Maberry’s Ghost Road Blues. The very first chapter set the pace for what was to be an exciting chiller with some deadly and some undead villains that got my heart pumping. The first book in a trilogy, Ghost Road Blues won the Bram Stoker award for Best First Novel.
The Town of Pine Deep Pennsylvania has become a hot tourist spot for those who are looking for a great Halloween horror ride. The citizens have built a business out of scaring the heck out of visitors every year. This year, however, Pine Deep is in for more than they bargained for. A secret past experience thirty years before had left something buried in the woods, something that terrified the town years ago. Now that something has returned and it is drawing into Pine Deep a monster of the human variety, Karl Ruger, who’s body may be human but without a soul. Now the citizens have a fight against evil on their hands and it’s one that they may not be able to win.
I was exciting to read this book and it did not disappoint. With remarkable action scenes and wonderfully descriptive characters, I was hooked from the beginning and now I am more than anxious to continue the saga of Pine Deep in the following books, Dead Man’s Song and Bad Moon Rising.
1. When you starting Ghost Road Blues did you have the trilogy already in mind or did they come one at a time?

Ghost Road Blues was created and pitched as a series.  I knew from early in the writing of the first draft that I was telling a big tale.  I wanted to explore the lives and relationships of a fair-sized cast of characters, and to build a lot of intertwining storylines.  Knowing that it was a trilogy also gave me the time to develop realistic characters; I didn’t want to write a supernatural tale with just heroes and villains.  I wanted to explore how real people –with all of their foibles, flaws and fractured lives—would cope with an increasingly unreal situation.

One thing that confused readers, however, is the fact that the publisher opted not to mention that this was a trilogy.  It was a marketing decision that I understand but do not agree with, and it confused a lot of readers who got near the end of GHOST ROAD BLUES and were wondering how I was going to tie up so many plotlines in the last few pages.  More got confused when they bought DEAD MAN’S SONG thinking it was a standalone book.  So, in BAD MOON RISING (due out May 8), I tried to buffer that for any new readers by providing an author note and a series of fake newspaper articles that provide the backstory.

2. Wow, you won the Bram Stoker award for best new novel and where nominated for best novel. What does that do to a debut author’s head? Motivate you or scare you?

It does a couple of things.   First, it gives you a big shot of confidence.  To have been nominated just for ‘First Novel’ would have been good enough but to have it then nominated as the best novel of the year really made me believe that I’d made the right decision in trying my hand at fiction.  To that point in my writing career I’d been a nonfiction guy, doing magazine articles and nonfic books. Now I consider myself as much a novelist as a nonfic author.

But the experience is a reality check as well.  If you’ve been praised for your writing and won an award then you have an obligation to your readers (and yourself) to make sure that you continue to turn out quality products.

 

One other neat side effect…I got to meet Stephen King.  He won the category for Best Novel with his critically-acclaimed LISEY’S STORY.  Which takes the sting out of losing, ‘cause if you’re a horror writer there’s no shame in losing to Stephen King.  After I won the Stoker for Best First, my editor at Pinnacle invited my wife and I to be her guests at the Edgar Awards (the mystery awards) at which Stephen King was being honored with the Grandmaster Award.  I got a chance to meet King and his wife, Tabby before the ceremony.

 

One side note…I just won a second Stoker Award, this time for nonfiction –which is something of a twist.  The book is THE CRYPTOPEDIA: A Dictionary of the Weird, Strange and Downright Bizarre, co-authored with David F. Kramer.  The awards were held at the World Horror Convention in Salt Lake City, UT two weeks ago.

3. As I mentions, Ghost Road Blues is the first in a Trilogy. Can you give the readers an idea of what they are looking forward to in Dead Man’s Song and Bad Moon Rising?

Each book in the Pine Deep Trilogy has a slightly different theme and flavor.  GHOST ROAD BLUES was essentially a chase story and by following escaped killer Karl Ruger the reader is brought to the town of Pine Deep and there things go wrong for everyone as a bigger and older evil force begins to exert its will, so that by the end Ruger is a servant of this greater evil.

DEAD MAN’S SONG is more of a mystery.  Several characters begin to investigate the goings on in Pine Deep.  One line of investigation starts with the events in the previous book and we follow Dr. Weinstock as he uses forensics to make a very unnerving discovery.  Another storyline follows the series’ main hero, Crow, as he and reporter Newton explore the town’s history of mass murder, and the supernatural legends associated with it.  At the same time the villains are moving behind the scenes preparing for a major attack on the town, the Red Wave, which they plan to launch on Halloween.

BAD MOON RISING is an action book.  The Red Wave strikes Pine Deep during the Halloween Festival, when the town is crammed with thousands of tourists and celebrities.  Crow and his friends are outnumbered.  We also see tragedy strike our dwindling team of heroes.  This book is also about transformations.  Each of the characters in the story goes through a major change and how they manage those changes will determine whether Pine Deep, and the world, survive.  One hint: even with the good guys, not everyone gets out alive.  This book has some real surprises and it was a hell of a lot of fun to write.

4. Ghost Road Blues received some great reviews by some heavy hitters of the horror genre (name drop Stephen King here), who are some authors you enjoy reading?

I read all genres and I read a lot.  Even when I’m driving I have a book on disc playing.  My current favorites are Peter Straub, James Rollins, James Lee Burke, David Morrell, Jay Bonansinga, Randy Wayne White, John Connolly, L A Banks, Duane Swierczynski, D H Dublin, Gregory Frost, Kelly Simmons, Ken Bruen….the list just goes on and on. 

Stand by Debbie Williamson

Paperback: 168 pages

Publisher:Souper Publishing (January 8, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0980123402

ISBN-13: 978-0980123401

To Purchase click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

STAND one courageous woman shatters the chains of abuse that bound her family for generations and dares to:

• brave the crippling memories of sexual abuse
• shatter the illusions of denial
• reveal her family’s bitter legacy of violence
• reach for the healing and wholeness
• take her place on a path to forgiveness and peace

Reading books about abuse are always hard for me, but especially when children are involved.  How do you ever overcome such a traumatic experience and lead a life that is unencumbered by horrific memories of the past, memories that are sure to haunt your days and nights?  The amount of courage it must take to not only face your past but move on is amazing to me, and that is exactly what Debbie Williamson has done. 

Debbie Williamson gives you and inside glimpse into her nightmare, a nightmare that includes being raped twice by her uncle at age nine, and a family that decides, through the advice of others, to just “let it be”.  After doing some research, Debbie learns that abuse is nothing new to her family – it goes back for three generations.  But, she is determined to break the cycle, and has done so!

This story is about so much more than the rape of a young girl.  It is about how early abuse can effect so many aspects of your life, especially when your family chooses to turn a blind eye to the situation.  Debbie knows, after many rough years and experiences, that the only way to break free is to confront the man who has had control over her for so many years.  After seeing her uncle she is at last able to break down the walls he has created and open up to a new life, a new life that she now fully controls. 

I truly recommend this book to anyone, and I mean anyone.  It is wonderful to read of one woman’s battles and triumphs when faced with so many people and things determined to see her fail.  Bravo!

About the author:

Debbie Williamson tours the Unites States speaking to groups about overcoming the effects of abuse.  She and her husband are the parents of 9 children and 11 grandchildren.  After generations of abuse, Debbie’s courage stopped the cycle before it was allowed to affect the next generation.

Born in Salt Lake City, she grew up in southern California and now lives in Utah with her family and four miniature schnauzers.  Family is her number one priority and when not working with university and church groups, she can often be found golfing and sailing with her children and husband, Gary.

Once again, thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the opportunity!

Belly of the Whale by Linda Merlino

Hardcover: 208 pages

Publisher:Kunati Inc. (April 1, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1601640188

ISBN-13: 978-1601640185

To Purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

Hudson Catalina has given up—having lost both breasts to cancer, she is emotionally and physically exhausted, no longer willing to endure the nausea and crushing weakness of her grueling treatment. Nothing in her life—not even her beloved husband and children, her best friend, or her passion for teaching high school—will sway her decision to terminate her treatment. On the eve of her daughter’s fifth birthday celebration, a troubled former student confronts her, hell-bent on violent revenge and then suicide. Facing certain peril, Hudson vows to do whatever she must in order to survive and see her husband and children once again.

 

Hudson Catalina is up against “the beast” – that is what she calls the cancer that has taken both of her breasts and is threatening to take her life.  She has already lost her grandmother and mother to this awful disease, and even though she has fought hard, she is ready to give up and give in.  In the midst of a raging New England blizzard, she decides she is going to go and visit Ruby Desmond, the owner of Whales Market, to pick up some supplies she needs to celebrate her daughters fifth birthday, quite likely the last she will celebrate with her.  While there she encounters trouble in the likes of Buddy Baker, the town hoodlum.  Buddy is truly armed and dangerous, and it is unsure whether any of them will get out alive.  

 

I don’t believe in spoiling the fun for everyone, but this one got a grip and wouldn’t let go.  Whether the breast cancer was front and center, or the drama among the family, or the terror that encounters the participants at the market, the author has a wonderful ability to keep you on the edge of your seat waiting for what is to come.  Excellent job! 

Thanks again to Pump Up Your Book Promotion - you guys ROCK!

 

About the author:

 

www.lindamerlino.com

Life is our daily teacher. One lesson begets another and then another.

Once-upon-a-time life kicked me off my writer’s path and led me to pursue a more practical profession. My childhood dream of becoming a journalist was silenced.

Years later, I became a single parent, not by choice but by necessity, and my most trustworthy partner became a ballpoint. The fiction in my head turned into words on yellow legal pad. I wrote anywhere, any time, on my dining room table, and on my lunch hour. No place was my sacred space. I wrote in my car during soccer practices, under an umbrella on rain drenched sidelines, in fast food restaurants and in chain hotels. I wrote during championship after championship in cities and states, from Jersey to Phoenix.

The quieted yearning to be a writer reawakened onto the pages of a novel. My first was self-published after five years of juggling work, kids and day-to-day. A flawed but beautiful story emerged onto paper and “Swan Boat Souvenir” enjoyed local acclaim and success.

I knew there was more to do, more to write and that the next book would be published traditionally, that the next manuscript would have the benefit of an editor and the advice of professionals. After months of writing, Belly of the Whale went from paper, to computer, to draft after draft and finally into the arms of Kunati Publishers.

My children are grown. My passion to write remains a constant. Each book I complete is dedicated to the magic of believing in my dream, to my son and to my daughters.

 

 

 

When a Man Loves a Woman by LaConnie Taylor-Jones

Paperback: 304 pages

Publisher: Genesis Press (April 1, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1585712744

ISBN-13: 978-1585712748

To purchase, click here.

 Excerpt from back of book:

Nursing administrator Victoria Bennett has soured on love.  She has sworn off men; they bring too much drama and too much pain into her life.  That is, until she meets pediatrician A.J. Baptiste, a single parent who is determined to woo her.  A.J. will stop at nothing to have her, and Victoria finds her resolve put to the test…but is this a fight she really wants to win?

When Victoria and A.J. Baptiste (Vic and Baptiste) meet for the first time, sparks and words fly.  Sure there is chemistry, right from the very beginning, but they start arguing minutes after meeting, and continue their headstrong stubborn ways every time they encounter each other.  But, underneath all of this arguing, they both feel the heat and the connection, something Baptiste relishes in, and Vic fights tooth and nails to deny and fight.  After being betrayed and heartbroken by her husband, she isn’t willing to let another man, any other man, infiltrate her hard shell and get to the heart she has worked so hard to protect.

While attending a party, Vic confronts Baptiste about his plans to stop her from relocating to Atlanta.  His goal is to do whatever he can to keep here near, and that means pulling out all of the stops.  As they are arguing, he begs her to let down her walls and let him in.  In a rush of emotion she breaks down and tell him why she has a hard time trusting men, a secret she has kept for over 8 years.  She is so distraught at revealing this information, she rushes out of the house and drives aimlessly, trying to get her thoughts and feelings in check.  She is distracted at a stoplight and is rearended when the light turns green, causing her to be pushed into the intersection and into a motorcycle being driven by none other than Baptiste.  What is she going to do?  And how will she explain this?  With a hit-and-run accident and drug dealing adding to the plot, there is enough to keep all readers satisfied.

This is my first book by Ms. Taylor-Jones but will not be my last.  She has such a way of infusing suspense, love, drama and a familial bond you can’t help but being drawn in and wanting to find out more.  Great work! 

About the author:

LaConnie Taylor-Jones holds advanced degrees in community public health and has written for several scientific research publications for the past fifteen years.  An active member of the San Francisco Area chapter of RWA since 2003, Ms. Taylor-Jones has combined her writing skills with a twenty-five year passion for reading romance in the completion of her first full-length multicultural contemporary romance novel, When I’m With You.

Once again, thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the chance to read and review another winner!
 

The Well-Fed Self-Publisher by Peter Bowerman

Paperback: 294 pages

Publisher: Fanove Publishing (August 1, 2006)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0967059860

ISBN-13: 978-0967059860

To purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

Landing a publisher has never been harder…

Even when you do, count on anemic royalty rates, 18 to 24 months to publication, and giving up the rights to your book.  And you’ll still be expectd to do most of the marketing yourself!  There’s a better way.  Thanks to the Internet, self-publishing (especially non-fiction) has become easier, more viable, and more potentially lucrative than ever before.

Follow the author’s firsthand experience as you learn how to:

• Develop a “marketing mindset” – minus the anxiety!
• Create a book that turns heads and grabs eyeballs
• Find tons of reviewers anxious to publicize your book
• Get into the big bookstore chains and stay there!
• Build a cash-generating web site that works 24/7
• Minimize your dependence on fickle mainstream media
• Parlay one book into multiple income streams
• Separate the “Print-on-Demand” hype from reality
• Dramatically simplify your marketing tasks

Most importantly, you’ll learn a radical new approach to book promotion, one that keeps you in contorl.  The result: less anxiety, higher profits, and more!

I have never written a book.  If I put my mind to it, I probably have some ideas swimming around in my brain but I just haven’t really put a lot of effort into writing.  My hubby on the other hand is very interested in writing.  But, even though I haven’t written a book, I do know the process and struggles that many authors face.  This book is orgainzed in such a way that it is possible for anyone to follow.  Really, publishing is all about business.  He lays the groundwork (and then some) for any aspiring author, and gives you a step-by-step guide on how to make your dreams come true.

The author covers many aspects of the self-publishing world including how to approach writing, the marketing and selling of your book, and discussing publicity avenues including Amazon.com, the mainstream media, your own website, radio and bookstore signings.

This is truly a well written and thought out book that lets the authors personality truly shine.  Excellent for anyone interested in hearing the ins and outs of the publishing world by someone who has been successful practicing what he preaches.

Once again I want to thank Pump Up Your Book Promotion for hosting this author and allowing me the chance to read and review it.

35 Miles From Shore : The Ditching and Rescue of ALM Flight 180 by Emilio Corsetti III

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Odyssey Publishing (April 28, 2008)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0977897109

ISBN-13: 978-0977897100

To purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

On May 2, 1970, a DC-9 jet with fifty-seven passengers and a crew of six departed New York’s JFK international airport en route to the tropical island of St. Maarten.  The flight ended four hours and thirty-four minutes later in the shark-infested waters of the Caribbean.  It was at the time, and remains, the only open-water ditching of a commercial jet.  The subsequent rescue of survivors took nearly three hours and involved the Coast Guard, Navy, and Marines.  In this gripping account of that fateful day, author Emilio Corsetti puts the reader inside the cabin, the cockpit, and the rescue helicopters as the crews struggle against the weather and dwindling daylight to rescue the survivors who have only their life vests and a lone escape chute to keep them afloat.

I have never been on a plane.  I don’t have a fear of flying, but my husband and I are the types of people who like to plan our vacations so we have enough time to drive and enjoy the sights along the way.  When I read books like this about aircrafts that have had incidents that have caused them to abort their mission (for whatever reason), it makes me glad that we usually take the time to drive.  I know, I know, driving in a car is a lot more dangerous than flying, according to the statistics.  But I can’t imagine the horror that must overcome passengers of an airplane when they realize they will not be landing as planned.

Emilio Corsetti has done an excellent job of researching the events, and being a pilot has the ability to enlighten readers as to the events that took place to cause the crew to have to “ditch” this plane.   He has done an excellent job of helping the readers understand the decisions that the crew had to make in lieu of the technical difficulties and mistakes that were made on this fateful flight.  He also does a great job of putting us in the shoes of the passengers, and helping to portray their emotions before and after the “ditching”.  This is the only open water ditching of a commercial airliner to date, pretty amazing considering how many flights take place daily. 

If you want to read a VERY interesting review of this book, please click here to read a review written on Amazon.com by an observer on one of the Marine Corps CH-46 helicopters that took part in the rescue – this was an eye opener to say the least.  What really happened?  I guess we will never know for sure.

This was an excellent read and really intrigued me to do some more research and see exactly what may have happened.  I had never heard of this incident before, so am glad I took the time to read this and gain this knowledge.

Thanks again to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the opportunity!

One Foot Outside the Door by Vina St. Fran

Paperback: 244 pages

Publisher:Zam Publishing (May 12, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0615137970

ISBN-13: 978-0615137971

Click here to purchase.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

On the mean streets of Los Angeles, Rodney King once asked the question, “Can’t we all get along?”

Unfortunately when it comes to realtionships pertaining to matters of the heart between men and women the answer is most likely no.  The problem is, you’d have a hard time convincing Cyndarella Worthy this is the case.  You see, this beautiful, 30-something African-American woman, has finally gotten it right.  Professionally, life couldn’t be better.  She is the owner of Peachtree Productions, a successful minority advertising agency in Southfield, Michigan.  The same is said for her love life thanks to Cyndarella’s Prince Charming, Thad Mitchell, a handsome African-American gentleman who sweeps her off her feet.

 Cyn, as she is affectionately called, is adored by her family and three lifelong friends from childhood.  However, will it be enough?  Cyndarella has a blas from the past in the form of her high school sweetheart and first love, Bashar Bazzi, and Iraqi, Chaldean (Christian Arab) American who left abruptly ending their four year relationship without explanation.  The devastation fueled her drive to have it all, and finally she does.  Within months of her upcoming nuptials to Thad, Cyn is forced to confront the past when a secret is exposed.  The stakes are high to beomce Mrs. Thaddeus Mitchell, but when Bashar resurfaces, all hell breaks loose.  Will Cyndarella ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after, or will she find herself back in circulation on Detroit’s competitive and vicious dating scene?  I dare you to turn the first page and read on to find out.

Haven’t we all had a rough relationship?  One that leaves us more heartbroken than we ever thought possible?  For Cyndarella Worthy, that relationship was with none other than Bashar Bazzi, her first true love.  Granted, his parents never really approved of her but Bashar made up for it by giving her everything he had, and more.  So when he decides to leave the country for some famiy business she is upset…she doesn’t want to be separated from him and really doesn’t understand why he feels the need to go.  But when he doesn’t return and she is brushed off with no explanation as to what happened from his family, and no contact from Bashar himself, she swears off relationships all together.  When she finally does open up her heart it is to Thaddeus Mitchell.  She is hesitant to get too involved too quickly, but when he passes all of her criteria for what make a “good” man she decides to give in to his proposal of marriage.  She is excited at the prospect of moving on with her life and finally getting married, unfortunately, fate may not let it come to be. 

She is given information about her past love that may bring down the new love that she has been so happy and willing to embrace.  Bashar didn’t just leave her and not contact her for no reason, as a matter of fact he had an excellent reason and it was something that was well beyond his control.  After Cyn finds out, she is not only shocked but is also outraged at his family for not informing her.  Will she crumble and leave Thad to be with her first love?  Or is it too late?  You’ll just have to read to find out.

About the author:

Vina St. Fran is the author of One Foot OUtside the Door, her first novel published by Zam Publishing.  She lives in the Midwest part of the United States.  Vina has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and a MBA in Strategic Management.  She discovered and started writing at the tender age of seven.  Writing is her passion and she is currently hard at work on her second novel that will be a follow-up to One Foot Outside the Door as part of a three series trilogy.

For more info, visit http://www.vinastfran.com

Thanks once again to the wonderful ladies at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for another great opportunity!

 

Embittered Justice by Michaela Riley

Paperback: 197 pages

Publisher: PublishAmerica (November 19, 2007)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1424197678

ISBN-13: 978-1424197675

To Purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

Jennifer Campbell is a beautiful, talented woman with ambition and drive to succeed in corporate America.  Moving to Virginia into the tightly knit community of Norfolk was a dream come true, with a house on the beach, family and security for the first time in many years providing the comfort and serenity Jennifer has searched for. 

All is well, until the fateful day Jennifer received a telephone call.  “Jennifer, go someplace and hide; don’t trust anyone.  You can’t trust the police or internal affairs.  Just go somewhere you can’t be found.  I’ll call you in a few hours.”

 Jennifer thinks she has it all, a new fiance, a house on the beach, and a new career.  Sure, the house needs a little TLC, and the previous owners have caused her nothing but grief (to say the least) but she is finally able to start her new life.  That is, until a UPS package arrives on her doorstep.  After opening it, and seeing that it is filled with guns, she is riddled with doubt on what she should do.  Contact ATF?  Contact the police?  After conferring with her fiance, he tells her to just sit tight and wait for the rightful owner to claim it.  Seeing as how she has no experience in these types of things, she takes his advice and sits tight.  But, why would the homes previous owner be receiving guns at his old address?  And why did he refuse the shipment when it was delivered to his new home in California?  Just to set her up for a major headache?

What ensues is terrifying to say the least.  You just have to read this one to find out all of the gory details, but let’s just say you may be leary about opening letters or packages that you aren’t expecting, you just never know what path they may lead to.

Michaela Riley has written a legal thriller that is able to keep the reader on the edge of their seat, waiting to find out which additional twist is waiting for poor Jennifer, the innocent victim in all of this.  Unfortunately, I do believe that the events in this book, although fictional, could very easily happen.  Clients are misrepresented in the legal system all the time, and plea deals are reached in which innocent people are too afraid to stand trial, and instead plead guilty to crimes they didn’t commit in hopes of receiving a reduced sentence.

About the author:

Michaela Riley was born in 1960 and grew up in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia in a town that borders the Ohio River and is surrounded by beautiful rolling hills. 

As a child Riley would spend most of her time reading every book she could carry home from the school library. She admits, “Being a writer was a fairytale for someone else’s life. Then I found a story that needed to be told.”  

Riley left West Virginia to join the Army in 1981 and quickly realized that the quiet life of West Virginia was very different than the screaming platoon sergeant. She decided early in her military career that she would go to college and that law was her first career choice.  

During her college years and after completion of her active duty tour during the Gulf War, she supported herself in a variety of healthcare positions. She plans on retiring from the Army Reserves this year and smiles as she says, “It was the best job and career I have ever had. I love my country.”

Nearly twenty six years later Riley has completed a Bachelor of Sciencedegree in nursing and a Master of Business Administration degree. She has been practicing as a Registered Nurse for almost twenty years and is the CEO of her own Professional Development Company.

Riley began to pursue writing when she had the misfortune of spending time in a local court room. Research revealed increasing rates of plea bargaining and malicious prosecution. “I have always been an advocate for people in need. When your right to speak for yourself is prevented, something has to be done. The story must be told, everyone has a story. Writing has become something I am passionate about and I am working on two other fiction novels.”

Riley lives near the Eastern Shore of Virginia. She has a son (born in 1977) and a Labrador retriever.  When not writing, Michaela gardens, cooks, and enjoys the outdoors with her family. Her favorite pastime is spent reading, going to movies or walking on the beach.

Thanks again to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the chance to read and review this book.

Emotionless Souls by David S. Grant

ISBN: 978-1-43484-828-4
100 Pages
Brown Paper Publishing – www.brownpaperpublishing.net
To purchase, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

Disaffected tourists idle through the streets and bars of Paris and Dublin.  Office workers suspect each other of stealing cocaine at the Christmas party.  Human Rewousrce officers interview the stripper they frequent for a position in the firm (at least they think it’s that stripper).  Pickpockets get pickpocketed.  Nobodies stage emergencies to come save the day.  Mediocre porn stars murder their co-stars to increase DVD rentals.  Executives drop Ecstasy during the board meeting and realizes their affection for the touch of their supervisor’s shirt.  Comics drop shrooms into the restaurant’s sauce to get laughs from even the roughest of Monday night crowds.

 There were a few stories in here that I didn’t care for, but for the most part they all were pretty intriguing.  I LOVED the fact that they all were short (running on average 3 pages), writing a short story and holding your readers attention is not an easy thing to do.  I also enjoyed the fact that all of the stories focused on aspects of the “real” world that we all can relate to.  If asked to pick a favorite, I would probably have to go with Homeless CEO, a story of a homeless man who find a way to enrich the lives of pedestrians passing by.  He is eventually offered a partnership, does well, makes money, but just as quickly loses it all and ends up back on the streets where he started.  Thus is the world of business, cut-throat and a neverending spiral.  This is my first book by this author but I would like to read his some of his others, including Corporate Porn and The Last Breakfast.

About the author:

David S. Grant is the author of Corporate Porn, written in 2005 and published by Silverthought Press in 2006.  David’s first novel Bleach and sequel titled Blackout are now available through Offense Mechanisms, and imprint of Silverthought Press in 2008.  Also, newly published in 2008 the novel The Last Breakfast and short story collection Emotionless Souls through Brown Paper Publishing.  David lives and works in New York City.

This book was another from the great ladies at Pump Up Your Book Promotion – have I said thank you lately?

 

Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith

ISBN 10:1-59466-116-2
To purchase a copy, click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

Caryn Deaver’s husband tried to kill her and their children seventeen years ago.  He went to prison for the crime, but he’s out now and determined to finish the job.  A period of sadistic stalking is a prerequisite to the final “Checkmate”.  Each progressive stalking incident includes  note: “Checkmate – nine moves,” “Checkmate – eight moves”…If Dan has his way, the last move will ensure Caryn’s death, and the death of the new man in her life, Cheyenne Fire Chief, Zach Riker.  Zack is just as determined to thwart Dan’s “game” and will stop at nothing to protect the woman he loves…or die trying.

I love being able to review books like this, especially when they have just been published and released to the public.  I must admit that there are times when I try to be polite and not hurt the authors feelings when describing their book, but not this time.  Checkmate started fast, and the tension and pace just kept going.  From the opening pages, you get a sense for how sadistic Dan Hamilton is.  After tying his wife and two small children up, he locks them in the family bathroom and starts the home on fire.  He does this, not because they are disobedient, but just because he considers it fun.  Being a cop has it’s advantages, and he thinks he has found the perfect way to get away with his crime, that is until Caryn and the children escape and testify against him.

Eighteen years have passed and Caryn and the kids have moved on with their lives.  Caryn is involved with a wonderful man, Zach Riker.  Zach is the Fire Chief and is also someone who has helped keep Dan behind bars, and been a support for Caryn for the past 2 years.  But he is about to become so much more, because Dan is being released from prison, and even they aren’t prepared for the cruel and twisted game he has in mind – a game they may not be able to win.

I don’t want to give away to much of the plot on this one, but let me just say that it was very hard for me to put this one down.  Jean has an incredible way of writing that makes you want to grab this book every chance you get, which I did.  She is looking for insight on the book and whether readers would like to see more in the “Stalker” series.  I for one say, PLEASE continue!

About the author:

Proud mother of three and stepmother of two, and the even prouder grandmother of ten, I have been writing longer than I sometimes care to remember.  My writing career began unofficially back in 1982 when I was talking with my mother on the phone.  I was always a doodler and, the next thing I knew, the line, “Jenny McCall awoke with a scream on her lips” appeared on a piece of scratch paper. 

Hmmm…I thought.  That would be a pretty cool first line for a book!  I had been an avid romance reader for years, but did I have what it took to be a romance writer?  Well, there was only one way to find out.  The first thing I had to do, of course, was figure out why Jenny McCall awoke with a scream on her lips.  I thought about it for a few days, came up with what I hoped was a good plot idea, and then went to work.  I had filled at least a dozen spiral notebooks before my husband finally realized I was serious about wanting to write a book and bought me an electric typewriter.  That’s right…no computer, no word processor.  A typewriter…but it did have a correction ribbon!  I can’t tell you how many times I retyped that first manuscript, trying to polish it as well as any first time novelist could on her own.  That book was followed by a second, and a third.  I now had a trilogy.  So, what do I do now?  Try to get an agent, right?  Actually I did acquire a literary agent a short time later.  She believed in my work, saw the potential…and actually came to stay at my home for a week and help me polish it.  Then it was off to the publishers, and the waiting game that would continue for over 10 years.

To make an already long story a little shorter, those first three books went nowhere.  They didn’t deserve to.  The stories were good, but the writing was atrocious.  They served their purpose, though.  They infected me with a writing “bug” that forced me to hone what I was told was a raw talent.  Other than a few creative writing classes in high school, I had never had an “formal” education in the writing field.  Everything I knew came from reading literally hundreds of romance novels.  I had good teachers, though…Kathleen Woodiwiss, my idol, among them.  (She would later review one of my books, by the way, and called it “exceptional.”)

Anyway, by this time, the agent was long gone and I was getting ”personal” rejection letters from publishers on my own.  That’s right.  I had gotten past the “form rejections” and editors were actually telling me what I needed to do to improve my work.  I took that advice to heart, applied everything they said, and kept on trucking.  Finally, in July of 1999, I published my first book, “Wagons To The Past” and I was on my way. 

To view a promotional trailer for this book – please click below:

And yet again, I must thank my good friends at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book – you guys ROCK!

Janeology by Karen Harrington

ISBN-13: 978-1-60164-020-8

Hardcover, 246 pages

Published by Kunati Inc.

I was intrigued by this book.  I am the mother of two young children, and know the stress that is involved with raising them and still trying to find “me” time and time for myself and my husband as a couple.  I will admit that it can seem overwhelming at times but I try my best and think that I do ok – I’m not a perfect person, mother, or spouse, but I accept that and make the most of every day, whatever it may bring.  Every time I hear the stories on the news about mother’s who take the lives of their child/children I shudder.  I personally can’t imagine what would make someone reach this level…don’t get me wrong, I am trying not to judge these individuals because obviously they do suffer from some sort of mental illness, I am just saying that I can’t imagine it.  A perfectly innocent child who usually wants nothing more than some love and affection.  But, I am going on and on when I really should be reviewing the book.  So, here goes.

Since the birth of my daughter 4 years ago, I have realized that the worst thing that can happen to an individual is to lose a child.  For Tom Nelson the pain involved is even more intense- his wife, Jane, drowns their son and tries to drown his twin sister, who survives the attack.   This book revolves around the trial against Tom – should he spend time in jail for failing to realize that his wife was “ill” and not helping to prevent this tragedy?  Isn’t he suffering enough knowing that he may have missed some obvious signs of distress that may have saved the lives of his dead son, and institutionalized wife?  Where do we draw the line when it comes to liability?

There are many aspects of this book that I liked.  I am always interested in the genetic aspect of things and this book does a wonderful job of exploring these possibilites.  Was Jane predisposed to do an act like this, due to her genetic makeup?  After reading this book, you may change your mind on how much the gene pool may influence our behavior patterns.  Then again, you may not.  It is something that could cause some heated discussions, and thought provoking as well.

I also was intrigued by Mariah, a relative of Jane’s who is clairvoyant.  She is able to touch objects in a trunk that belongs to Jane and help piece together the missing parts of Jane’s past – parts that may help us understand her personality, and what may have caused her to commit this horrendous act.  The writing of these events was wonderfully done – I loved the way the author used different “voices” to represent the different family members and time frames.  Very well done.

About the Author:

 

Karen Harrington was born and raised in Texas, where she still lives with her husband and children. She received a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Karen’s first writing gigs were in corporate America as an editor and speechwriter. Her fiction writing has been recognized by the Hemingway Short Story Competition and the Texas Film Institute.

She authored and published There’s A Dog In the Doorway, a children’s book created expressly for the Dr. Laura Schlessinger Foundation’s ”My Stuff Bags”.

“My Stuff” bags go to children in need who must leave their homes due to abuse, neglect or abandonment.

Karen also supports and advocates the proliferation of Crisis Nursery Centers designed to provide free child-care to families in emergency situations.

To view a trailer for this book, please click below:

 

 

Once again I need to thank my friends at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for allowing me the opportunity to review this book!

 
 

West Across the Board by Andrew Jalbert

ISBN – 978-0-595-42194-7

170 pages

www.iuniverse.com

To purchase click here.

Excerpt from the back of the book:

What are the elements of friendship that last a lifetime – the mysterious connection that can outlast great distances and long periods of separation to bring friends back together?  For Lazaro, a salty Cuban mariner, and Dominic, a sophisticated Chicago engineer, the answers can be found in the game of chess.

I have to admit that I wasn’t sure what to expect when reading this book.  First novels can be a bit choppy and poorly edited at times, showing that the author has some growing to do before the true quality of their work shines through.  Such is not the case when it comes to Andrew Jalbert.  I was delighted not only by the story, but by the way the characters were formed and the ability of the author to separate two different eras in the same book, while still allowing the story to flow smoothly – something that is not an easy task.

The friendship between Lazaro and Dominic is one that we all hope to have.  When tragedy strikes Lazaro he flees the Keys and decides to start over, never looking back.  His friend Dominic writes faithfully at first, but Lazaro just wants to close that part of his life so he packs the letters away with the infamous chess board.  He does think of his friend often, but it is too painful to think of everything that has happened so he immerses himself in the lives of his wife and son.  But when tragedy strikes again, he starts to rethink the separation and writes Dominic, keeping it very informal and just full of information about what has been going on in his life.  Dominic writes back but also keeps it impersonal.  This continues until Lazaro receives a phone call which beckons to his heart to go back to the Keys to see his long-time friend, something he should have done long ago.

This story is sure to tug at your heartstrings and make you realize that sometimes it is better to face your fears and keep living, without giving up the things that truly matter.  Very well written and easy to read!

On a side note, I was THRILLED to have Manitowoc mentioned, as this is my hometown.  And, my husband is from Two Rivers.  During World War II, Manitowoc built 28 submarines, and we still have one on display.  I have been through it a bunch of times, and it is truly amazing to think that people actually functioned on these vessels.   

 Thanks to everyone at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the opportunity to read this!

Behold Your Mother by Heidi Hess-Saxton

ISBN 978-0-9800483-0-8

71 Pages

www.bezalelbooks.com

To purchase a copy, click here.

Let me first start out by saying that I am not Christian.  I was raised Catholic so I am familiar with the teachings, I have just found that it wasn’t for me.  But, the one aspect of the Christian faith that I always loved was Mary.  My grandmother has ALWAYS prayed to Mary, in fact when I told her about this book she asked me to let her read it.  She loves speaking to Mary as one mother to another.  She asks Mary to go to her son and ask for whatever she is in need of. 

In this devotion to the Blessed Mother, author Heidi Hess Saxton shares her personal reflections and how she came to develop a meaningful relationship with Mary, at first thinking Jesus might not approve.  The book then includes 48 powerful meditations beginning with scripture and ending with a short prayer.  I loved how following each line of scripture she interpreted what Mary may have thought at that time in her life.

Really a very interesting book for Christians and non-Christians alike. 

About the author:

Heidi Hess-Saxton converted to the Catholic faith in 1994, after spending 30 years actively participating in a variety of Christian traditions.  Having pursued graduate studies at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan, Heidi lives with her husband and family in southern Michigan.  She is editor of Canticle magazine, and adoptive parent columnist at www.CatholicExchange.com and www.CatholicMom.com

Thanks to everyone at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for allowing me to review this!

Busy week

I haven’t had a reading week like this in a LONG time!  I am not sure what made it possible for me to read so many books this week, but I am glad that I did.  There are some weeks where it seems like I struggle to get one book read – this week I finished one and started and finished 5.  They are:

Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith – finished May 5

Emotionless Souls by David S. Grant – started and finished on May 5

Embittered Justice by Michaela Riley – finished on May 6

When a Man Loves a Woman by LaConnie Taylor-Jones – finished on May 8

35 Miles from Shore by Emilio Corsetti III – finished on May 8

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult – finished May 10

(Reviews will be coming on all of these in the very near future)

One of the things I think helped is the fact that we actually had some decent weather.  I then take the kids outside, hang some wash on the line and bring a book to read.  But, my hubby lost his job on Friday (which really sucks as he is the sole income in our household) so this week I will be busy helping him look for work.  This couldn’t have come at a worse time, but it will all work out, somehow.

For our Weekly Geek theme this week, we are supposed to write down some fond memories of childhood books.  I guess it all depends on how you define childhood.  When I was quite small, before I could read, my favorite and I mean all time favorite books were any by Dr. Seuss.  Ok, who am I kidding, these are probably still my favorites.  It sounds so cliche because he is such a favorite for so many people, but with good reason.  If asked to pick a favorite book I think it may be Horton Hears a Who, but I really hope I never have to truly pick.  I know the one my mom liked to read to me the most was Green Eggs and Ham.  They are all such classics and each (for the most part) also have some lesson to be learned.  True Genius!

Having two little kids myself I enjoy reading Dr. Seuss to them as well.  There aren’t too many authors nowadays that I like as much, although I also enjoy reading the Sandra Boynton books to them as well.  There are some others but I can’t think of any right now.  Oh well, what can you do?

So, off to enjoy my Mother’s Day.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of you and enjoy your Sunday!

Letter of Love from China by Bonnie Cuzzolino

ISBN 1-4243-0236-6

For children ages 4-8

To purchase click here.

This book hit me in a way that was unexpected.  I am not an adoptive parent, but my best friend was adopted and I was with her when she found out (her parents didn’t tell her right away, which devastated her).  I can’t imagine what some of these mothers must feel when they wrap their little newborn up for their last goodbye.  I know that somewhere in their hearts they know that they are doing the right thing by giving their child the life that they deserve and that won’t be financially possible for their biological parents.  But it must just about tear your heart in two.

On the other side are the parents that are looking to adopt.  How wonderful that these women realize that they can’t offer their children the life they believe they should have and make the ultimate sacrifice by putting them in anothers care.  I can just imagine the feeling that must overcome these new parents when they lay eyes on their new child/children..your heart must be just about ready to burst with the love that is inside waiting to start your new life together.

This book is great for any parent, but is truly essential for anyone that is thinking about adopting or has adopted.

Beautifully illustrated by Jax Bennett

About the Author:

 Award winning author Bonnie Cuzzolino and her family live in New Jersey.  Bonnie and her husband Ray are the parents to a beautiful daughter adopted from Hubei, China in November of 2001 at 12 months old.  She and her husband are now waiting for a referral for their second daughter from China through Holt International Children’s Services.  Bonnie has had a lifelong passion to write children’s books.  This book is her first and is dedicated to her daughter, Jillian Mei.

I believe that we are given the gift from God to love.  For some peopl there are circumstances in their lives that interfere with this ability.

Our daughter’s birth mom chose to leave her in a place that she could be found quickly and cared for, in a bamboo basket, wrapped warmly in blankets with a note of her birthdate and a small amount of money.  A decision that many of China’s birth moms who relinquich their children make.

Thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the chance to review this book!

The Pink Forest: A Woman’s Intimate Confessions by Dana Dorfman

ISBN 13: 978-0-9798592-0-5

311 Pages

Banderae Publishing

www.danadorfman.com

Excerpt from the back of the book:

The Pink Room is flying silk and a canvas of lace.  It is a magic gleam and a twinkling eye.  It is playful glances, soft pecks upon the lips, and swirls of eye-catching smiles.  It is endless stretches of bed ruffles and flowing satin shets strewn across a candle-lit floor.  It is thick pillows, the coolness of moonlight, and giggle-strewn chatter in the mist of rose-silk petals.

But more than anything, The Pink Forest is about one woman wishing upon life for the courage to feel her enchanted self.  Caught in the gusts of emotion, her small draped figure lands on the tree of possibility where she become an amorous creature.  Glistening with intimate confessions, she blushes the earth and wanders into The Pink Forest.

 I have to be totally honest.  I really wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book.  But the author drew me in with her lyrical writing and descriptions that left little to the imagination, and I truly had a hard time putting this book down.  After all, it isn’t every day that you get to delve into the most personal and intimate confessions of a woman searching for her enchanted self. 

This book was able to evoke so many emotions in me as I traveled with her on her journey to find her enchanted self and the revelations she makes on the way.  Prepare yourself for a book that presses the boundaries of your imagination and sensual side to see what it might take to find and release your enchanted self, after all, who says your conscience ALWAYS has to be your guide. 

About the author:

 Dorfman was raised as an only child and has been writing since the age of four. She graduated from the University of Southern California and considers herself a “life writer” who is able to tap into the blush of the earth.

Dorfman resides in Los Angeles with her mystical spirit.

The Pink Forest is available at www.amazon.com , www.barnesandnoble.com , www.atlasbooks.com  www.danadorfman.com  and bookstores everywhere.

Web Sites: www.DanaDorfman.com  and www.WishUponLife.com

Thanks to Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the wonderful opportunity to review this book, and to Ms. Dorfman for her willingness to share her wonderful book!

 

To purchase a copy of this book, click here.

A copy of this book is going to be raffled of on Friday, May 16.  For your chance to win, please comment on this post.  For an additional entry, just post about this giveaway on your blog or website and leave me the link in your comment.  Thanks again for all the support!

Southern Reading Challenge

These great challenges just keep popping up, and I am having a hard time resisting them (as you can probably tell by now).  This one is only 3 books, but I am still having a hard time picking. 

The rules are easy: 3 Southern Setting books by Southern Authors in 3 months beginning May 15 and ending August 15.  Not too hard, right?

I am still not POSITIVE what my 3 will be.  But, I am thinking they are:

The Girl Who Stopped Swimming by Joshilyn Jackson

Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

and

The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue

Granted, this could change but I think I will stick with these three.  Interested in signing up?  Visit Maggie Reads for more details.

The Complete Booker Challenge

I am so fortunate to have so many friends (online anyway) that love to read as much, if not more, than I do.  That said, I get a lot of different posts thrown at me every day thanks to my handy blogreader Bloglines.  Today I ran across another challenge that I will sign up for, reading all 41 books that have won The Man Booker Prize for Fiction.  The list is:

2007 – The Gathering (Enright)
2006 – The Inheritance of Loss (Desai)
2005 – The Sea (Banville)
2004 – The Line of Beauty (Hollinghurst)
2003 – Vernon God Little (Pierre)
2002 – Life of Pi (Martel)
2001 – True History of the Kelly Gang (Carey)
2000 – The Blind Assassin (Atwood)
1999 – Disgrace (Coetzee)
1998 – Amsterdam: A Novel (McEwan)
1997 – The God of Small Things (Roy)
1996 – Last Orders (Swift)
1995 – The Ghost Road (Barker)
1994 – How Late It Was, How Late (Kelman)
1993 – Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Doyle)
1992 – The English Patient (Ondaatje)
1992 – Sacred Hunger (Unsworth)
1991 – The Famished Road (Okri)
1990 – Possession: A Romance (Byatt)
1989 – The Remains of the Day (Ishiguro)
1988 – Oscar and Lucinda (Carey)
1987 – Moon Tiger (Lively)
1986 – The Old Devils (Amis)
1985 – The Bone People (Hulme)
1984 – Hotel Du Lac (Brookner)
1983 – Life & Times of Michael K (Coetzee)
1982 – Schindler’s Ark (Keneally)
1981 – Midnight’s Children (Rushdie)
1980 – Rites of Passage (Golding)
1979 – Offshore (Fitzgerald)
1978 – The Sea, the Sea (Murdoch)
1977 – Staying on (Scott)
1976 – Saville (Storey)
1975 – Heat and Dust (Jhabvala)
1974 – The Conservationist (Gordimer)
1974 – Holiday (Middleton)
1973 – The Siege of Krishnapur (Farrell)
1972 – G. (Berger)
1971 – In a Free State (Naipaul)
1970 – The Elected Member (Rubens)
1969 – Something to Answer For (Newby)

I have read NONE of these, that’s right, none of them.  But, thankfully, there is no time limit which is great.  I can fit these in between some of the other books that I am reading and finish as I go.  I am thrilled to start this one as it seems like there are a LOT of good books here. 

To join, visit The Complete Booker for more info.

Win The Baker’s Boy by Barry Kitterman

I have never heard of this book but the description has intrigued me.  For your chance to win, visit Carp(e) Libris Reviews for more details.  Hurry, offer ends May 6!

Sunday Salon & Weekly Geek all rolled into one

It’s been a busy week here, but I only got one book and review finished – Janeology by Karen Harrington.  I have been busy trying to organize my books and have made some progress, but am still looking for the best way to keep track of them online.  Any suggestions?  I hate flipping back and forth through the multiple sites that I frequent and don’t want to have to enter these in multiple places.

I am currently reading Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith and so far it is quite good.  I am about 100 pages in and since I seem to be suffering from insomnia today, I will pick it up again as soon as I am done with this entry, will probably get this done before the rest of the family is awake.

I also have a LOT of cooking yet to do today.  I am going to be doing Once A Month Cooking again – I purchased 6 weeks worth of dinners (and a few other odds and ends) for just under $240 and have already cooked and frozen some of the meals (view my blog Recipease for more info – will keep updating it with recipes and such).

We did go shopping to the Fox River Mall yesterday, and I didn’t buy a book!  Instead, I decided to get a fantastic tea infuser and some great loose tea from The Fava Tea Company (view my blog Ritual Madness for more info).  I think I will go and brew a cup of tea now (maybe some Carrot Cake) to drink while I read through some blogs.

This is the second week for Weekly Geeks and I am loving this one!  This week we were asked if we wanted to participate in posting links for other people that have reviewed the same books that we have.  As a book reviewer, I think that this one is so fantastic!  What better way to offer your blog readers a chance to read some different viewpoints?  I know that there are books that I wasn’t thrilled with that other people absolutely LOVE!  So this one is a real winner!  I just hope it isn’t too hard to figure out how to do, lol!

If you notice any books that I have read and reviewed and you have as well, for now just send me a link to your review and I will post it on the bottom of mine.  I may incorporate a Mr. Linky for this in the very near future though:)

Hope you all have a great Sunday, and will be stopping by some of you later to say hi!  Take care!

1% Well-Read Challenge

I am telling you – I am really enjoying signing up for these challenges.  It is helping me put a dent in books on my TBR list that have been on there for WAY too long.  This one is really great – here are the rules:

The goal of this challenge is to read 10 books in 10 months from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. For you non-math people, 10 out of 1001 is approximately 1%, hence the title. The challenge will run from May 1, 2008 through February 28, 2009.

You may change your list at any time and cross-posting to other challenges is permitted. The only requirement is that your ten book choices must be on the ‘1001 List‘. Another helpful tool is an Excel spreadsheet by Arukiyoma that is found here.

To sign up visit 1% Well-Read Rules and Signup.  Here are my 10:

1. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
2. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
3. Beloved by Toni Morrison
4. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
5. The World According to Garp by John Irving
6. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
7. The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe
8. Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
9. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
10. The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Losing Kei by Suzanne Kamata

This was previously reviewed on some of my other sites, but I am unable to get it to post properly if I backdate it.  Also, a lot of you are new readers so it shouldn’t make much difference. 

There’s an old quote that says “A mother who is really a mother is never free”. This, as any mother knows couldn’t be more true and unfortunately Jill Parker finds this out the hard way in this wonderful book by Suzanne Kamata.

Jill is reeling from a bad relationship, and instead of traveling to Africa, the site of her now ex-boyfriend, she decides to take a fellowship to Japan for a fresh start. She falls in love with the culture, and soon with one of its residents, Yusuke Yamashiro. They have a whirlwind romance, and decide to elope to avoid conflict with his parents. After all she is an American and probably not someone they would approve of him marrying seeing as he is the sole heir to the Yamashiro estate.

Not long into the marriage, Jill finds out that she is pregnant. Even though she is thrilled at the thought of bringing a new life into this world, she is becoming less tolerant of her role in the Yamashiro household. She wants nothing more than to be able to move into a house of their own, but when a tragedy strikes the family it is soon evident that she will never be free.

When young Kei is born she focuses all of her energy on him, after all he is absolutely perfect and the only thing she needs to get her through her lonely days. With a domineering yet needy mother-in-law, and a workaholic husband, he is the only thing in her life that brings her ultimate joy. But soon it is not enough and she decides that her marriage to Yusuke must come to an end. If she was aware of the laws of Japan when it comes to custody of children, she may not have chosen to do this.

After doing some research I have found out some interesting facts:

-Joint custody is illegal in Japan
-Japanese courts do not recognize foreign custody orders
-Japanese court orders for custody are not enforceable
-Natural parents do not have priority in future custody changes
-Discrimination against non-Japanese in granting child custody
-Fathers of Children Born Out of Wedlock Have No Custodial Rights
-No system to register a foreign parent’s contact information
-Mothers granted child custody in 80% of court decisions
-Child abuse and other psychological factors are ignored in family court decisions
-Adoptions are permitted without approval of the non-custodial natural parent and without approval of a court
-Government officials refuse to help a parent find a child being hidden by the other parent

Unfortunately I was not totally shocked by some of these statements, I just know that I sympathized to my very core with Jill, knowing what kind of fight she was in for to try and get visitation, much less custody of a son born in her husbands native land.

This book is one I would recommend to anyone. It was thoroughly engaging, and gave you a glimpse of how different cultures handle something that is very common here in the US. Well done!

Questions for the author:

Are you a mother?

Yes. I’m the mother of eight-year-old twins – a girl, and a boy. I dedicated the book to my son.

What made you decide to move to Japan (I have always been fascinated with the culture myself)?

I think I originally became interested in Japan through literature. I fell in love with Heian court poetry when I was studying Asian history in college. I loved the idea that courtiers communciated via verse. I also read a couple of novels while I was in college – Equal Distance by Brad Leithauser and Ransom by Jay McInerney – that piqued my interest.

I had the opportunity to go to Japan for one year on a program sponsored by the Japanese government which invites young native speakers of English to assist in English classes in public schools. I renewed for a second year, and during that year I met my husband, who is Japanese.

Do you miss anything about the US?

I miss the wide open spaces, and I think that Americans are more tolerant of differences. I also miss libraries and bookstores full of books in English!

What advice would you give new authors?

Persistence is key! I wrote four novels before this one, and I’ve sent short stories out twenty times or more before getting them accepted for publication.

I also think it’s important to finish your work. At some point you might get discouraged and think that what you’re writing will never pan out, but if you don’t get it down, you’ll have nothing to work with.

Also, join a writing group. And read, read, read.

Chance to win free books…Yeah!

So, I was poking around Maw Books – one of my new favorite sites (see previous posts) and she did a cool blog entry about all of the people that had visited her blog in the last month (yours truly included of course).  I wish I would have found her sooner, but better late than never.  So, I clicked on her very first visitor listed and came across a book giveaway.  Honestly, this is one of the best parts about being in the world of blogging (at least for me).  So, without further ado:

For your chance to enter, just visit My Random Acts of Reading for more details.  Good luck, but not better luck than me:)

Great deal – 400 free prints and the opportunity for many more

This is a great offer!  I know that I am always looking for good deals on printing pictures online, and have never had a problem with any of the services that I have used.  And here is another great promotion.  ArtsCow is aggressively campaigning for new customers, and to draw you in they are offering 400 free prints!  Wow, that is an awesome deal.  And, with every person you refer you get an additional 200 prints free:)  Now, who couldn’t use that!  Normally I try to only post book related things on here, but because this is my highest traffic blog and this offer will end soon I wanted to get this to you all before it runs out.  Please follow this link (that way I can earn my free prints):

http://www.artscow.com/default.aspx?Ref=344270

Thanks to all of you, and Happy Wednesday!

Weekly Geeks

So, our task for the week was to visit 5 new blogs from the list of participants and leave a comment.  Come on, we all love getting comments on our posts, no matter how small, and what better way to start our journey.  So, without further ado, here are the blogs I visited:

Leafing Through Life

The 3 R’s

Books and Coffee – Love Penn and Teller as well:)

Bookgirl’s Nightstand

and Bloody Hell It’s A Book Barrage

I actually intend on visiting quite a few more, but I can’t write about EVERY blog I visit that has to do with books…or can I?  Thanks for visiting and come back soon:)

Sunday Salon…a new favorite site?

It has been a pretty busy week and I did get 4 reviews written, but they actually have scheduled dates to be posted so you will have to wait for them.  But, they are:

The Pink Forest – May 7

Letters of Love From China – May 8

Behold Your Mother – May 12

West Across the Board – May 14

These books were all provided by Dorothy and Cheryl, the wonderful ladies who run Pump Up Your Book Promotion - if you haven’t visited them, you should really check it out.  It is a great site and offers wonderful services for authors and readers alike:)

But, I did get a chance to visit a site that I only touched on previously, and I have to say this is one that I will be visiting daily (and also subscribed to it).  It is Maw Books and let me tell you, it offers a little bit of everything.  There’s a bookstore, a blog, book lists, book clubs, and many other resources.  Really, if you love books (which you must if you belong to the Sunday Salon) then this is really a site to visit.

Otherwise it has been a kind of stressful week here.  I went to the dentist thinking I was just going to need to have a cavity filled.  But, after 2 hours and the start of a root canal I left in some pain in the mouth and pocketbook.  And, they only STARTED the root canal, I have to go back in a few weeks for them to finish it.  Not a whole lot of fun, but thankfully the dentist if FANTASTIC!

We have a pretty busy day planned and are starting to get ready for a rummage sale so I have to cut this entry short.  I hope you all have a great Sunday and will visit some of you later:)

Maw Books Blog 100th Post Giveaway

Here you go fellow bookies – yet another book giveaway, but the chances to win are literally endless.  For more info just hop over to Maw Books for details, but hurry!  This contest ends on April 30th:)

Need some help with your blog revisited

Here is another great contest – please visit Desperately Seeking Sanity for your chance to win a great blog enhancement package.  Good luck all!

Need some help with your blog?

Check out this great giveaway contest at Simply His Blogger- all sorts of goodies to get your WordPress site up and running with some customized things as well.  Check it out, it ends soon:)

Comfort Food (and a giveaway)

All you have to do is leave a comment at The Written Word  by midnight EST time on Wednesday, April 30th and you will be automatically entered to be one of five people to win a cute canvas tote bag (click on the image to view larger). Just think of all the books you could fit in one of these when you head to the used book sale at your local library! In addition, one of those five people will also get the advance reader copy of Comfort Food!  For an even better chance to win, post about this contest on your own blog (linking back to this post) and your name will be entered twice! If you aren’t one of the lucky winners, then make sure to get a copy of Comfort Food at your local bookstore once it is released on May 6th. Good luck!

Win Staked by J.F. Lewis

This really sounds like a great book, but I really am a sucker for this kind of story.  For more info, and details on how to enter to win this please visit A Book Blogger’s Diary.  And make sure to check out the other giveaways on this site, as there are TONS of great thing:)

Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson

 I was offered the opportunity to review this book from my wonderful friends at Pump Up Your Book Promotion and jumped at the chance.  Not only is Lisa Jackson a #1 New York Tims Bestselling Author, but she also writes the type of books that are right up my alley. 

Being the daughter of a New Orleans detective may seem like it would protect you from harm, but this is not the case for Kristi Bentz.  In fact, she may be one of the unluckiest people in the world.  At 27 she has nearly died twice at the hands of a serial killer, but has fought and lived to tell the tale.  Now that she is recovered, she has decided that it is time to leave home and pursue her dream of becoming a true-crime writer. 

All Saints College isn’t too far away from the watchful eyes of her father, but there is something not quite right on campus.  4 girls have disapperared in the last two years, and even though they were troubled and have no family that cares it still seems as if there is more to the story.  Kristi has decided to make it her personal mission to do some amateur detective work, especially when she discovers that the apartment she is renting was previously occupied by one of the missing girls.  Not only that, all of the girls have a schedule extrememly similar to Kristi’s, including “The Influence of Vampirism in Modern Culture and Literature” taught by Dr. Dominic Grotto one of the new hip teachers on staff.

What Kristi uncovers is a dark and secret society of students and possibly teachers who are fascinated with vampires, and my quite possibly be taking their fascination too far.  With the help of her former flame Jay McKnight (who is now her professor), Kristi seeks to find the clues necessary to pin these crimes on the perpetrators, something that may well end up costing her her life. 

 With clear concise writing, this book was a true pleasure to read. 

About the author:

Lisa Jackson can’t keep away from murderers, especially serial killers.  She’s been killing people everywhere from Savannah and New Orleans to San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest—and it’s been worth it.  Her readers come back again and again, and her novels are fixtures on national bestseller lists. In fact, her book Fatal Burn was a number one New York Times paperback bestseller, and the first two of her novels to be published in hardcover, Shiver and Absolute Fear, were in the top five on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Next, readers will be looking for LOST SOULS, being published in hardcover by Kensington Books to go on sale March 25^th. 

Having made serial killing her business—sort of—she has put her characters through the wringer. They have been up to their necks in danger and stared death, usually a pretty gory one, right in the face.  She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional and downright twisted.  As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims, and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families. 

Lisa began writing at the urging of her sister, novelist Nancy Bush. Inspired by the success of authors she admired and the burgeoning market for romance fiction at the time, Nancy was convinced they could work together and succeed.  They sat down, determined to write and to be published.

They did and they were. 

Initially they wrote together. Later, they moved in different directions. Lisa brought more and more suspense to her work and began writing much darker stories.  Nancy’s writing expanded to include not just her own novels, including her highly praised Jane Kelly Mysteries, such as the recently published Ultraviolet. She also spent several years writing for one of television’s leading soap operas, even transplanting herself for a time from the sister’s Pacific Northwest roots to Manhattan. This year, they plan to work together again on a thriller set for publication in 2009.

Meanwhile, for Lisa the killing continues as this mother, daughter, workaholic and amazing writer continues her habit of making the hair stand up on the back of readers’ necks, and  landing  her books on The  New York Times, the USA Today, and the Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.

Lisa Jackson’s novels include the upcoming LOST SOULS and the best sellers Absolute Fear, which will be published in paperback for the first time in March, Hot Blooded, Cold Blooded, The Night Before, The Morning After, Deep Freeze, Fatal Burn, and Almost Dead.  Last year, Most Likely to Diewas written by Lisa, Beverly Barton and Wendy Corsi Staub was published and became a number three New York Times paperback bestseller. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America, the International Thriller Writers and the Romance Writers of America.

Top 106 books most often marked as “unread”

by LibraryThing’s users. 

Bold what you have read, italicize those you started but couldn’t finish, strike-through asterisk for books you have no desire to read, a ? in front for books you never heard of and strike through what you couldn’t stand. Add an asterisk to those you’ve read more than once. Underline those on your to-read list.

Jonathan Strange & M. Norrell
Anna Karenina
Crime and Punishment
Catch-22
One hundred years of solitude
Wuthering Heights
The Silmarillion
Life of Pi
The Name of the Rose
Don Quixote
Moby Dick
Ulysses
Madame Bovary
The Odyssey
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
A Tale of Two Cities
The Brothers Karamazov
Guns, Germs, and Steel: the fates of human societies
War and Peace
Vanity Fair
The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Iliad
Emma
The Blind Assassin
The Kite Runner
Mrs. Dalloway
Great Expectations
American Gods
A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Atlas shrugged
Reading Lolita in Tehran
Memoirs of a Geisha
Middlesex
Quicksilver
Wicked : the life and times of the wicked witch of the West
The Canterbury tales
The Historian
A portrait of the artist as a young man
Love in the time of cholera
Brave new world
The Fountainhead
Foucault’s Pendulum
Middlemarch
Frankenstein
The Count of Monte Cristo
Dracula
A clockwork orange
Anansi Boys
The Once and Future King
The Grapes of Wrath
The Poisonwood Bible
1984
Angels & Demons
The Inferno
The Satanic Verses
Sense and sensibility
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Mansfield Park
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
To the Lighthouse
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Oliver Twist
Gulliver’s Travels
Les misérables
The Corrections
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time
Dune
The Prince
The Sound and the Fury
Angela’s Ashes
The God of Small Things
A people’s history of the United States : 1492-present
Cryptonomicon
Neverwhere
A confederacy of dunces
A Short History of Nearly Everything
Dubliners
The unbearable lightness of being
Beloved
Slaughterhouse-five
The Scarlet Letter
Eats, Shoots & Leaves
The mists of Avalon
Oryx and Crake : a novel
Collapse : how societies choose to fail or succeed
Cloud Atlas
The Confusion
Lolita
Persuasion
Northanger Abbey
The Catcher in the Rye
On the Road
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Freakonomics
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Aeneid
Watership Down
Gravity’s Rainbow
The Hobbit
In Cold Blood
White teeth
Treasure Island
David Copperfield
The Three Musketeers

I never want to dismiss any book on a list, that’s why I just bolded the ones that I have read and underlined the ones that I want to read.  Admittedly, there are books on the list that I have never heard of, as a bibliophile I am almost ashamed to admit this, lol!

It has been a good week for the most part.  I have joined in on a few challenges that seem like they will be a lot of fun, have joined another weekly blog group that is about books and anything book related, and we went to the library and I bought two more Lisa Jackson books- after reading Lost Souls I just couldn’t resist.

Now today, it is back to trying to make a list of the books I own and categorize them…this is a HUGE job but hopefully I can make some more progress on this today- any suggestions on how you store your books?  Do you alphebatize them?  And if so, how do you leave room for when new books are added to your stash? 

I also need some advice on how to start rating my books.  I would like to use a 10 point system – this would still result in 5 stars but each point would be worth 1/2 a star.  Can you all enlighten me on some of the things you look for when rating a book?  I want to compile something that is fair to all authors and not just me picking a rating because of my own personal feelings.  Again, all input is greatly appreciated.

Happy Sunday all, and have a great one!

A different kind of book challenge

Ok, this one is really cool.  It is still book related, but is really more about blogging about different book related things than necessarily reading (although that may be thrown in at some point).  Here are the rules:

 

The basics:

 

1. Every week there’ll be a different theme. One week might be “catch up on your library books” week and the next might be “redecorate your blog week” or “organize your challenges” week or “catch up on your reviews” week. It’ll be fairly bookblogcentric, but not exclusively.

2. Everyone who joins agrees that they will try to check each week to see what the theme is, although they DO NOT have to participate each week, only when they feel like it.

3. Everyone who joins is welcome (encouraged, begged!) to send me ideas for weekly themes via email, comments, whatever. The more ideas, the better.

4. I will post the weekly theme each Saturday, but you can check in any time it’s convenient to find out what the theme is.

5. If you post about your progress with that week’s theme in your blog (whether you were wildly successful or didn’t get around to any of it) then you can come back and leave a link to that post in the comments for that theme.

6. The next week, when I announce the new theme, I will also post a mini-carnival-like blurb, with links to everyone’s progress posts. Either way, you’ll have a link to your blog every week you participate, which will hopefully help other participants find their way to your posts.

7. In order to motivate participants to spread the word, anyone who posts promoting this challenge is guaranteed to be able to choose the theme for one of the weeks this year (their choice of week, first come first served). No need to pick a week now; just let me know when you have a theme idea and you can pick your week then. In addition, I’ll enter the name of each participant who writes a promotional post by the end of April will have their name entered in a drawing for this chocolate monkey. If any of your readers sign up and leave a comment saying they heard about it from you, you get two entries for the chocolate monkey. You may never again have the chance to say to your friends and family, “Yeah, the internet gave me this chocolate monkey.”

To join, please visit The Hidden Side of a Leaf and make sure to tell ‘em I sent you:)

Congratulations to the following

Poetry of Murder- Erin

Bones of the Dead – Fred

Pale Immortal – Coleen

Please contact me at amateurdelivre@gmail.com with your shipping information, and thanks again so much to all of you for participating.  Please remember to check back as I will be raffling off books weekly!

The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything) by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything) by Dr. Barbara Becker Holstein

91 pages

ISBN 978-09798952-0-3

Enchanted Self Press

Excerpt from the back of the book:

Read the thoughts, secrets and stories of a young girl just leaving girlhood.  “The Girl” writes all her deepest thoughts in her diary and gives every young reader a sense that they are not alone.  What if you could have found a secret diary written by your mother or your grandmother when she was a girl?  Wouldn’t you be curious to see how they really felt when they were young?  Now you have a chance to really know how girls like you have felt generation to generation…

I was thrilled to be offered a copy of this book from Pump Up Your Promotion – there has always been something about a diary or journal format that has been intriguing to me.  Maybe it’s because i wish I would have been more diligent and kept a journal as I was growing up.  Sure, most of it would have been meaningless, but there might be a few treasured thoughts or feelings that I conveyed years ago that I really long to have again.  But, sadly, I didn’t do this so I have to live vicariously through journals and diaries of others.

This “diary” is that of a 10 year old girl.  As I read this, it brought back so many memories of my childhood, some wonderful, and some awkward.  The writing was superb – I wonder, does the author currently have a 10 year old daughter?  If not, she truly has captured the voice of little girls everywhere.  I was surprised at how much I loved this book!  I am sometimes unsure, especially when the book is geared more towards the “younger” generation.  But there were a few passages that I felt the need to share:

Things for Grownups to Remember:

Don’t be mean to animals.

Try not to swear for a month.

Don’t fight with anyone you love.

Don’t put people down or call them names.

Believe your child if she tells you she is in love.

Answer a kid’s questions.

Listen to their ideas.

It seems like such a simple thing, but aren’t these things we all should really take to heart and try to live by?  That said, she also makes some promises for when she is grownup.

Things I promise to do when I grow up:

I’ll travel a lot.

I won’t look away when my kids ask me tough questions.

I’ll answer truthfully.

I won’t swear.

I won’t get into silly fights with my husband.

I’ll have fun with my kids and laugh a lot.

I’ll remember me!

Oh, if only we can take all of these and use them everyday.  It’s worth a shot, right? 

To listen to Dr. Barbara discuss The Truth, click here

To purchase a copy of this book, click here.

A copy of this book is going to be raffled off on Friday, April 25th.  For your chance to win, please comment on this post.  For an additional entry, blog about it and let me know where to check.  Thanks again for all of your support!

342,745 Ways to Herd Cats, OR tl;dr1 Challenge

I have finally hit my stride, and this is the 4th challenge of the year.  This is another one that caught my eye, not only because of the name but because it is something I should easily be able to accomplish.  Here is the jist of it:

1. Make a list of ten books you love. That’s the only qualification; you had to love (or at least like it) the books on the list. Ten books, a list full of ♥

2. Share the list. 

3. Browse the lists created by our other members, collected here: reading lists! There will also be a master list of books available when people actually makes their lists.

4. Read at least three books recommended by others between May 1st – November 30th, 2008². Of course, more is fine! Encouraged, even!

5. Write reviews of the books you read! As long as folks are reading from our collection of lists, I’ll continue collecting those reviews in our account, until the very last second of November 30th. Three is just the minimum, in order not to scare off people who shall remain nameless that might be a member of 745,936,623 reading challenges. >.>

6. Share the links to your reviews for the challenge by using one of the steps listed in #2. All reviews will be collected in the reviews (link will exist soon) tag, and all participants will be listed in (who would’ve guessed), the participants tag.

The books I have chosen for this challenge are:

Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

and

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

For more info click here.

My 10 books are:

1.  Mistress of the Revolution by Catherine Delors

2.  Bones of the Dead by Elle Newmark

3.  From the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz

4.  Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

5.  Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

6.  Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

7.  Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson

8.  Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut

9.  The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

10.  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

(it was soooooo hard to pick just 10 and I just thought of the first 10 I could)

Good News – Free $25 offer extended until May 15

I transferred $105 to my checking account yesterday and it hit today…that’s even faster than Paypal.  To get your free $25 all you need to do is click on the link on the left and fill out the info – it is just that easy.  I have researched this and it isn’t a scam so go for it, who can’t use an extra $25?

Win 3 Large Ferry Tales or a beautiful book thong…check this out!

What am I talking about?  To find out visit A Bookworm’s Diary for more details on this fantastic contest….really anyone would appreciate this beautiful craftsmanship:)

A book meme

I did this one previously, but wanted to post it here on my book blog.  So here goes.

Look at the list of (100) books below. Bold the ones you’ve read.Italicize the ones you want to read. Leave blank the ones that you aren’tinterested in. (Movies don’t count.)

1.The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25 . Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Quite a list, but honestly there are SOOOOOO many other books out there that I wanted to add to my TBR list.  I think one of these days I will create a list of books I own and post it on a separate page (I already have a list started so it may not be too hard).  I love comments, so please feel free to leave one about whatever you want:)

One of my favorite sites to visit

There are so many sites out there about books, and so little time to get to them, between reading, cross stitching, and taking care of my family and house.  But, one of my all time favorites is BookBitch.  I can’t remember when I stumbled across this site, or how I found it, but I am sure glad that I did. 

Every week there are multiple book reviews, something that I love.  I am ALWAYS on the lookout for for new books (like I really need more) and this is an excellent resource to find them.  There is also a link for virgin authors, someone that is showcased as a new face in literature to watch for.  Throw in a links tab for everything from Shopping to Reading Groups to Book Recycling, and a very easy way to win multiple books every month and you have a winner (at least in my book). 

If you get a chance, check it out.  I don’t think you will be disappointed.  And, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Happy Wednesday!

Soup’s On – A Culinary Reading Challenge

I swear, Ex Libris must have been reading my mind.  I didn’t get the opportunity to sign up for too many challenges early on in the year – I just wasn’t organized enough with my books to be able to decide which challenges to join so I opted not to join any.  But, I have recently joined the I Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge which I am very excited about, and also the 48 Hour Book Challenge.  Even though these are two great challenges, there is something this one does that the other two don’t – combine two of my loves, cooking and reading!  Now it is time for me to decide which six cookbooks I am going to use for this challenge – should be easy enough.  I hope some of you will consider doing this as I think it will be great fun…hearing about new cookbooks, and seeing new recipes and how the reader enjoyed them. 

Thanks again for all the support!

Pale Immortal by Anne Frasier

To be honest, I was not familiar with Anne Frasier.  I ran across her on Myspace and was drawn to her books because they were set in Wisconsin, my home state.  I approached her to see if she would be willing to submit a book for review, and she was more than happy to oblige.  I am thankful, as this was a fantastic read and really drew me in from the very beginning.

This book is set in the sleepy town of Tuonela, Wisconsin – a town that is notorious for the “Pale Immortal” – a serial killer who stalked the streets one hundred years ago and was rumored to drain his victims of their blood.  Since the death of the “Pale Immortal” no one has lived in Old Tuonela, instead moving a few miles away and rebuilding on ground that was less haunted.  The only people foolish enough to step foot in Old Tuonela are the “goth” kids or the occasional tourist – people who don’t really belive the legend or are just looking for a good scare.

Even though the town has moved, it’s past continues to haunt it.  The corpse of a young girl is found dumped alongside a local road, drained of all of her blood.  Has the “Pale Immortal” been resurrected from his unmarked grave, to rain terror down on New Tuonela?  Or is there a new terror that the residents must encounter, something even more evil that the ghosts of their past?

The most logical suspect in most of the townspeople’s eyes is the recluse, Evan Stroud.  Not only has he written a book that would give him access to details most people don’t know, he also suffers from a rare condition known as Porphyria, which makes it unable for him to be in sunlight.  He has been taunted for years as being a “freak” or a “Vampire” and has considered leaving, but where would he go?  At least he is familiar with the town, and most people accept him, even if they aren’t exactly friendly.  And he is not without friends.  His best friend Rachel Burton has recently returned to town and taken the job of County Coroner.  It gives him someone to talk to and a reason to look forward to something in his day.

Evan’s life is turned upside down when a young man named Graham Yates shows up at his door, stating that he is his son.  Although Evan does remember sleeping with Graham’s mother, she was the type of girl who slept with more boys than not, and the odds of Graham being his son don’t seem too probable.  While waiting for the DNA results, Graham gets mixed up with a group of hoodlums who have named themselves “The Pale Immortals” and believe that the rotting bones of their idol and namesake hold the power of life, death, and immortality.  For a boy who has been trying to fit in his whole life, it is easy to fall into their warped views- after all, these are the first true friends he has had in years.  But the townsfolk of Tuonela have no idea what is lurking in their mist – an evil so powerful it may destroy them all.

The formation of the characters in this book is flawless – I was pleased as there are times when authors seem to go on and on giving details that really are not relevant to the story or plot, but this was not the case.  The characters are also kept to a minimum, making it much easier to relate to the heartache and horror that each one goes through in search of the true “killer”.

This is a fantastic read and one that I highly recommend, especially for those of you who enjoy nothing more than a good scare!

Here is a video showing what you can expect from this book:

 

For excerpts from the book, and other cool information pertaining to it click here.

A copy of this book is going to be raffled off to one lucky reader on Friday, April 18th.  As always, to enter, please leave me a comment, but make sure to include some way to get ahold of you.  And, for an extra entry, post about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post.  Thanks for looking and happy Tuesday!

A Good Start to Sunday

My dear friend Dorothy at Pump Up Your Book Promotion has honored me by featuring my blog on Cool Book Blog - what an honor this was.  And I thought it was a perfect way for me to start my Sunday Salon entry – thanks again Dorothy!

Speaking of Pump Up Your Book Promotion, I will have a full load of books to review for them coming up in the next month and a half.  The books and dates they will be reviewed are:

April 23 – Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson

May 7 – The Pink Forest: A Woman’s Intimate Confessions by Dana Dorfman

May 8 – Letters of Love from China by Bonnie Cuzzolino

May 12 – Behold Your Mother by Heidi Hess-Saxton

May 14 – West Across the Board by Andrew J. Jalbert

May 16 – Janeology by Karen Harrington

May 20 – Checkmate by Jean Hackensmith

May 26 – Embittered Justice by Michaela Riley

May 27 – When a Man Loves A Woman

June 5 – One Foot Outside the Door

I am so excited about getting all of these wonderful books!  I also recently won two contests, yes TWO!!!  I won the book Winter Haven by Athol Dickinson and an autographed copy of Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder.  So, all in all it has been an excellent week for books:)

I have just finished Lost Souls and it was really excellent – I have found a new author whose books will definitely be added to my TBR pile.  I have such a stack here I am not sure what to read next…we’ll just have to wait and see.

Hope you all have a great Sunday and thanks again for visiting!

Bronte Sisters Library Giveaway

Want a chance to win a book by each of the Bronte Sisters?  All you need to do is visit Ready When You Are, C.B. for your chance to win 3 great books:

Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre

Anne Bronte’s The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights

Good luck everyone!

Bones of the Dead by Elle Newmark

This review was previously posted on my website, but I thought that I would post it again for 2 reasons:

1.  This is in my top 5 favorite books of 2007.  It takes a lot for me to give a book 5 stars, but this one deserved it.

2.  I just happen to have 2 copies, so yes, this book will be raffled off on Friday, April 18th – make sure to comment for your chance to win, and as always, if you blog about it and link back to me you get an extra entry (just make sure you leave the blog/website info in the comment so I know where to look). 

Here is my review:

“Civilizations are built on the bones of the dead.” Sometimes I believe we forget about those that have come before us…this is evident in some of the mistakes that are made over and over again. History certainly has a way of repeating itself, but thankfully there is nothing about this book that is a knock off of something else you have read – it is truly original in every way.

This book focuses around a street rat named Luciano and his mentor, Chef Amato Ferrero. Luciano is living on the streets, turned out at the age of 6, and although it is not the life he would have chosen he has become skilled in the tricks needed to survive the hunger and the cold he faces daily. One day he is plucked from his life of poverty by his soon to be mentor, taken to the home of the doge, given clean clothes, 3 meals a day, a warm place to sleep, and a real chance at improving his station in life and showing that he is someone of worth.

“The art of cooking, like the art of living, must be savored for its own sake.” This is the first of many lessons young Luciano will learn from the maestro. His techniques are about much more than just following a recipe – he is truly a magician in the kitchen. His unique abilities are able to prevent possibly disastrous situations from happening, but in the end they aren’t enough.

The story’s true star is a book – not just any book, but a book that is thought to be magical, housing everything from the “recipe” for immortality, a love potion, and how to create gold from common ingredients. It is sought by some of the most powerful, wealthy, and downright evil men in the country – all of whom are willing to do WHATEVER it takes to possess it as their own.

I don’t believe in delving too deeply into the plot of the story, I want the reader to be able to enjoy the story as I did and not give away too much of the plot beforehand. I will say this, I wish that I was made aware of Elle Newmark before now – her ability to evoke your emotions through her storytelling is something to be rivaled. She also has an uncanny way of describing her characters and setting in the type of detail that makes you feel as if you are truly a part of the story, not an easy feat when the story is set in 15th century Venice.

This book is one I recommend to anyone looking for a true page turner with an original plot and enough twists to make you shake your head and guess again at what will happen next. Thank you for providing this wonderful book, and making me realize that just because a book is set in another country and time, does not mean it won’t be compelling right up until the last page.

Good Luck everyone, and as always, thanks for looking!

I Heard It Through the Grapevine Challenge

I found this challenge at Lynne’s Little Corner and it was just too hard to resist.  I receive so many books for review that often times my books sit on the shelf just begging to be read.  I am never sure how to prioritize my books, so joining these challenges seems like the perfect way for me to do this.  I have had many books recommended to me (which is the theme of this challenge) so it was hard to narrow it down to 3.  And, unfortunately, I don’t remember exactly who recommended them…sorry, but I read a lot of blogs and websites, I just know that they all sounded interesting to me.  So the three that I have chosen are:

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

Things I Want My Daughter to Know by Elizabeth Noble

I do have a little time as this challenge doesn’t start until June 1.  I am so excited – my first true challenge of the year – Thanks Lynne!

Sombrero Fallout…oh how I love the library!

So, we went to the library today.  It has been almost a month since we have been there – this is unusual as it is usually 2 times a week.  But we have all been struggling with sickness and just didn’t have the get up and go to get there.  But, I took the girls grocery shopping yesterday, so that freed up today somewhat and we decided to head there.

If I haven’t said it before I will say it now.  This is truly my favorite place in all the world.  I love seeing all the book, the smell, everything about it.  I normally don’t even look at the books they have for sale, not because I don’t want to, but because I am too busy chasing after the rugrats.  But, today I had the chance to look a little.  And, what I found was Sombrero Fallout by Richard Brautigan.  I have personally never read anything by him, but he is one of my mom’s favorites.  And for 50 cents I got a first edition hardcover, so really, even if it is not my cup of tea it was still worth it.  I hope to make time to read it soon – we’ll have to see.

Hope you all are having a great Saturday – stop back tomorrow for the Sunday Salon:)

The Poetry of Murder by Bernadette Steele

I wanted to start this post by giving some details about the setting, which is The International House of Chicago.  I was totally unfamiliar with this and wanted to find out more about it, as the setting means a lot to the depth of a novel.  Here is the information that I found on Wikipedia:

The International House of Chicago is a dormitory on the campus of the University of Chicago for advanced undergraduates, graduate and professional students. Facing the Midway, it was created in 1932 as a gift from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. specifically to foster relationships between students from different countries. It is notable for having housed many famous artists, scientists, and scholars connected with the university, including Langston Hughes and Enrico Fermi. Some 30,000 people have lived there since it first opened its doors.

An attempt in early 2000 by the University of Chicago administration to close the International House and convert it into a dormitory for the Business School resulted in large student protests and a class-action lawsuit against the university by International House residents. After months of negative media attention and intense public criticism by faculty, alumni, and local activists, the administration finally reversed its decision and allowed the International House to remain open. The International House subsequently embarked on a $30 million renovation project.

International House of Chicago, founded in 1932 by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. is a dynamic program center and residence capable of housing up to 486 advanced undergraduates, graduate students and interns from around the world, including the United States. The mission of International House is to promote cross-cultural understanding, mutual respect and friendship among students and scholars and on the part of the people of metropolitan Chicago toward individuals of all nations and backgrounds.

Chicago’s International House is part of a larger vision conceived by YMCA official Harry Edmonds that included Houses in four other cities – New York, Berkeley, Paris and Tokyo. Today the vision of International House is a vital reality. The Chicago House has been home to over 27,000 persons from virtually every country. Living together in an atmosphere that provides for free interchange of ideas and knowledge, its residents are stimulated by diversity while being secure in their own unique backgrounds. International House is in the final stages of a multi-year $30 million restoration which has modernized resident and guest accommodations as well as updated meeting, conference and public event spaces to serve future generations of students, scholars and the Chicago community.

The House serves the greater Chicago community as a cultural center for programs of outstanding diversity. Activities range from politics and international films, to dance and music, from cultural celebrations and educational programs to discussions and debates on world issues. As we begin a new century, International House of Chicago plays a vital role in preparing tomorrow’s leaders for a global future.

That said this book was an excellent mystery.  It focuses around Geneva Anderson who lives in International House and has a fellowship to write poetry.  Her Aunt, Victoria Franklin, is the administrator of International House, and when Geneva finds her dead in her office, it is clear that there has been foul play.  What Geneva never expects is that her inheritance from her aunt will leave her a millionare, reveal that she has a sister, and make her the prime suspect in the murder investigation involving her aunt’s death.  Against the advice of her friends, she decides she needs to do some research of her own to try and clear her name.  The more research she does, the more she realizes what kind of woman her aunt really was, and also realizes she has numerous enemies who would have been happy to see her dead.

This was a fast paced mystery that really held my interest.  At 209 pages it was a quick read and I was unable to figure out who the true killer was until just before it was revealed, something I love in a book as I am usually very good at guessing the ends.  There were numerous twists and turns that will keep the attention of any mystery buff.

To view a video clip about the book, simply click below:

About the author:

Determined, personable, and imaginative are the words used to describe, Bernadette Steele.  Throughout her life, Bernadette has used her persistent nature and quiet strength to navigate the hills and valleys of life.

A native of Chicago, Illinois, Bernadette moved into the International House at the University of Chicago in 2004.  The multicultural environment and gothic architecture of I-House and the U of C campus inspired her to write her first murder mystery novel, The Poetry of Murder (Oak Tree Press, February 2008).

Due to a difficult childhood, Bernadette did not finish the sixth grade and never attended high school.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993 and her Master of Science degree in Technical Communication and Information Design from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 2003.  Currently, she is pursuing her PhD in Technical Communication at IIT and has an expected graduation date of 2010.  She plans to pursue a career in academia.

For eight years, Bernadette worked as a technical writing and website designer for a major financial institution until she was laid off in December 2005.  Prior to being laid off, Bernadette started writing The Poetry of Murder, and finished it in 2006. 

As a resident of I-House, she served as a Representative-at-Large on the Residents’ Council from 2004 to 2006 and as the election coordinator in 2006.

She approaches her writing in a systematic manner that involves developing detailed outlines and character descriptions.  Some of Bernadette’s favorite authors include Walter Mosley, James Baldwin, Agatha Christie, and Victor Hugo.

Bernadette has been an active member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority since 1999.  She has served as her chapter’s webmaster from 2004 to 2007 and as a corresponding secretary from 2004 to 2005.

Bernadette enjoys a host of activities such as going to the movies, hiking and traveling. Her favorite film genres include film noir, science fiction, action/adventure and murder mysteries.  For Bernadette, the seasons are divided up according to the various sporting events that she enjoys.  Fall and Winter mean hoping that the Chicago Bears will get a decent quarterback and that the Chicago Bulls will get to the NBA championships again. Summer and Spring mean rooting for James Blake to win a championship tennis match and watching Tiger Woods have a winning season of golf.

The Poetry of Murder is the first in a continuing series of mysteries featuring the protagonist, Geneva Anderson. 

Bernadette is a resident of Chicago and lives in the Hyde Park community. 

Thanks to the wonderful people at Pump Up Your Book Promotion for the chance to review this book!

A copy of this book is to be raffled off on Friday, April 18th.  For your chance to win, just leave me a comment.  For an additional entry, blog about this and let me know where to check it out.  As always, thanks for your support!

Audrey, Wait! Contest

Yippee, I found another new contest:)  This one is for the book Audrey, Wait.  For more details, and to enter, please visit The Page Flipper.  Thanks for the great contest, and thanks to everyone for all the support!

Booking Through Thursday

• Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
• Turn to page 123.
• What is the first sentence on the page?
• The last sentence on the page?
• Now . . . connect them together….
  (And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book-that’s cheating!)

He ran his tongue across his teeth in anticipation.  She, too, was pushed into the motionless water to be found by the creatures of the night.

How does that grab ya?  Currently reading Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson and loving it!  This book will be reviewed in a few weeks so stay tuned:)

Enter the Duke of Shadows Sweepstakes

This will probably be the last contest of the day…not too shabby if I do say so myself.  Check out this steamy picture…yummy:)  Here is a chance to win some fantastic prizes such as:

The Duke of Shadows Sweepstakes.

Prize packages

• Grand Prize: $25 gift card from Barnes and Noble
• First prize: $15 gift certificate from Amazon (or online bookstore of your choice)
• Runners up: Five more winners will receive a copy of The Duke of Shadows

Seven winners. Cool prizes. What do you have to do to get in on this?

Just visit Ann Aguirre to enter, I know that I did and I am so excited about my chances of winning!

2 books this time The God of Animals and Wake

Here we go again, here is the chance to win two books.  All you need to do is visit In Bed With Books and read the details – woo hoo, more book giveaways to come!

Autographed copy of Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

All you need to do is visit Kinsmen of the Shelf for your chance to win this book, and if you blog about it you get three extra entries.  How cool is that?

Win Jinx by Meg Cabot – ends April 12th

It’s like Christmas for me today!  I have come across a TON of sites offering free books and feel obligated to blog about them (ok, like I’ve said before, i do get extra entries this way as well).  Please visit Liv’s Book Reviews for the chance to win a copy of Jinx by Meg Cabot…yippee!

Win ZigZag by Ellen Wittlinger

Here we go again, another site offering a book a day through 4/11.  Please visit Author2Author to check out this chance to win some great books to add to your collection.  Thanks again!

From the Shadows

I don’t read a lot of short stories. I used to, but seem to have gotten out of the habit and I am not really sure why. So, when I had the opportunity to review this collection for my friend Vern at Triad Publishing Group, I jumped at the chance. I was thrilled, first and foremost, because it was my favorite genre, horror. But the other thing that is so intriguing about the world of short stories is that even if the story isn’t that great, it is over with quickly and you are on to another one. Thankfully I didn’t have to worry about that this time.

This book consists of 13 scary tales…how appropriate. I have been fortunate enough to read and review books by two of the authors in the collection – Norm Applegate and Fran Orenstein. And I was pleasantly surprised at the other talent that was exhibited in the other stories as well. This collection will appeal to everyone’s fears, whether it is superstitions, vampires, cults, werewolves, or madness that lives only within your head. I am not sure if I would be able to pick a favorite, and even if I did I am sure if I read them again it would change. The Artist by Kevin Morrison reminded me of an old Vincent Price movie that if I saw it today would still scare me. The Wooden Box by Thomas McReynolds delves into madness which starts at a Grandfather’s funeral and spirals out of control. Jumpers by Norm Applegate ponders the questions, what would you wish for if you were given the opportunity? And would you use it wisely if you found out it came true? These are just some of the great stories told here.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good scare – some truly chilling and some just hinting at the terror, letting your imagination take you over the threshold and beyond. I look forward to reading some more by some of the authors included here. Great job to all of you!

This book will be raffled off on Friday, April 11.  For your chance to win, just leave me a comment.  For an extra entry, blog about it and link back to me (please tell me that you are doing this so I can check your blog).  Thanks again!

April Prize Pack of books

Today must be my lucky day.  I continue to find some fantastic book giveaways and I want to pass on the info to all of my loyal readers.  Ok, it is a little self serving as it also earns me some extra entries, lol!  So, here is another great giveaway, consisting of 5 books.  For more details please visit The Page Flipper!

Win a box of books!

Wow, a box of books:)  This really perked me up when I saw this blog.  Most people (myself included) give away a book or two at a time.  Don’t get me wrong, I probably have enough books to offer a contest/giveaway like this and may do so in the future.  I just have to get around to sifting through the mountains of books that I have.  Well, enough about that - to enter please visit The Friendly Book Nook and check this out, I think you will agree it is fantastic.  Thanks again for visiting me!

Win a copy of Airhead by Meg Cabot

I hate to admit it, but I have never read a Meg Cabot book…hopefully by posting about this giveaway I will increase my chances enough to win this one, lol!  For a chance to win, please visit The Story Siren for more details on how to enter.  I am getting so lucky finding these giveaways, I may be back with more today.  Keep on checking back for more giveaways and reviews.  Thanks for all the support!

Joshilyn Jackson Book Giveaway

I came across another blogger who loves to host giveaways, maybe as much as I do, lol!  Once again I ask “Who doesn’t love to get free stuff, especially books?”  So, check out the following site:  A Book Blogger’s Diary for your chance to win the great book mentioned above.  Details are on the site – come on, I know you want to check it out!

Journey from Head to Heart – Living and Working Authentically by Nancy Oelklaus

WOW! That is the only way that I can describe this book. There is so much information in these pages and it is told with such straightforwardness, it makes it easy for anyone to apply the principles to make life easier and help it flow smoothly. There isn’t really much I can say that will sum it up the way it deserves to be…honestly you really just need to read this one. So, here is the info from the back of the book:

Journey From Head to Heart is…

A Toolkit for those who are exhausted from solving neverending problems, working harder and harder and not arriving at the destination where thy truly want to be.

A Map for how to make the journey from head to heart and then integrate the two so that the power of ego is diminished and the Authentic Self can emerge to live and work from the power of the human spirit.

A Reference book you can use for many years to come as the reader meets life’s challenges with success that satisfies both the head and heart.

Journey from Head to Heart is exactly that, integrating logic, reason, emotion, spirituality, recovery, science, and ancient wisdom from a variety of sources to create a recipe for wholeness. The tools and processes are designed for people who are a little wary of “touch-feely” or “New Age” approaches.

I really don’t normally “drop the ball” when it comes to reviews but I really did feel like I could not do justice to this book by trying to condense all of the information in just a few paragraphs. I strongly urge you to read this as it will be beneficial to everyone.

About the author:
Nancy Oelklaus lives on the rim of a canyon in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Harlan, and Feathers, a curly white lap dog. Nancy lightens the load for leaders and ordinary people by teaching them powerful findings from neuroscience ignited by the scriptural wisdom of the ages. Her professional and personal clients learn to create environments where people thrive, at work and at home. Specializing in helping people make transitions, her knowledge and skills have been learned through more than 30 years of working in education and business to understand how adults learn and change – and how they can do it faster so that they may spend more time in “happily ever after.”

Dr. Oelklaus holds a bachelor’s degree in speech from Oklahoma Baptist University, a master’s degree in English from the University of North Texas, and a doctorate in educational administration from Texas A&M University in Commerce.

Nancy enjoys taking photographs and writing poetry.

A copy of this book will be raffled off on Friday, April 11. Please comment for your chance to win, and for an extra entry post a link to this blog entry. Thanks for your support and please stop back!

This book was gratiously provided by the people at Pump Up Your Book Promotion!

To purchase a copy of this book, click here:

Journey from Head to Heart

Find Your Magic Farworld 2008 Blog Tour

I think that I have made it perfectly clear that I love books.  I mean, come on, what more do I have to say?  They really are one of the few releases and vices that I have and I don’t feel guilty about it one bit.  Ok, I take that back, I do feel guilty when I see all the books sitting on shelves that need to be read but hey, maybe I will eventually get to all of them (although I am not sure if this is even possible).  That said, I know that I will never have enough time to read all the books that I want but I think most of us feel this way.  Anyway, the point of this post is to alert you to something that sounds like a lot of fun.  If any of you are intersted in receiving and ARC of a book titled Farworld-Water just click on this link for details:

http://jscottsavage.blogspot.com/2008/04/marketing-part-ivthe-blog-tour.html

Who knows, we both might be fortunate enough to get to read this and be able to ask the author some questions – how fun does that sound? 

Thanks as always for visiting, and hope to see more of you all soon!

 

First Sunday Salon entry

So, here is my first entry for the Sunday Salon.  I am so excited to be part of such a fantastic group of fellow readers.  I have been an avid reader all of my life, and my to be read pile is always growing.  I have mixed feeling on this because sometimes I think books that I really should read constantly get pushed further and further down my list to make room for my lastest MUST READ!!!  Oh well, I am sure many of us have this same problem.  What I should try to do, in my spare time (which I don’t really have any of), is make a list of the books I own and haven’t read, and try to rank them somehow.  I am too late to join a lot of the challenges that started in January.  A great thing to consider for next year as I can then thin my shelves and get some of those books read.  Will have to wait and see how that goes.

So, onto my current read.  I am reading Lost Souls by Lisa Jackson.  This is the first book that I have read by this author, and I am actually reading it for a Virtual Book Tour (to be discussed in a later post).  I won’t say too much yet except that I think her writing style is very good and the story line has really grabbed my attention.  It is hard to put down, but with two little girls, a puppy, and a hubby that all need my attention (and the housework and packing away some of the winter clothes), I haven’t been able to read quite as much as I normally like to.

We did go to Green Bay yesterday, and while we were there we decided to stop at Goodwill.  My hubby loves to look to see what he can find, and I like to look for my daughters as well.  We have found some great deals there on gently used items.  But, to be perfectly honest, there was only one section that I was interested in, and that was the books.  And I did find 3 books (to add to the hoardes I already have) that I was actually looking for, and at 99 cents a piece for hardcovers, it was a bargain.  The three books were:

My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult – New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness.

Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate — a life and a role that she has never challenged…until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister — and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves.

My Sister’s Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child’s life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister’s Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

Broken Prey by John Sandford – (I have a few of this series, but have never read them…maybe it’s time to start)

Lucas Davenport confronts a living nightmare, in one of the spookiest Prey novels yet from the number-one bestselling author.

“There are reasons why John Sandford’s Prey series has been so wildly successful, and they begin with our old friends plot and character,” praises the Washington Post. “But in Broken Prey, Sandford has outdone himself. He is at the top of his game. You want to know the only thing wrong with this guy? He makes it look easy.”

But there is nothing easy about what Lucas Davenport faces now.

The first body is of a young woman, found on a Minneapolis riverbank, her throat cut, her body scourged and put on display. Whoever did this, Lucas knows, is pushed by brain chemistry, there is something wrong with him. This isn’t a bad love affair.

The second body is found a week later, in a farmhouse six miles south. Same condition, same display – except this time it is a man. Nothing to link the two murders, nothing to indicate that the killings end here.

“This guy…” Lucas said. He took a deep breath, let it out as a sigh. “This guy is gonna bust our chops.”

And soon he is going to do far, far worse than that.

A suspect emerges early: a man recently released from a prison hospital and who now seems to have cut himself free from his court-imposed ankle bracelet and disappeared. But the more Lucas investigates, the more he wonders: Is this really the man? Could he really have done this all by himself? And where has he gone to, anyway?

And meanwhile, a predator waits….

Brilliantly suspenseful, consistently surprising, filled with rich characters and exceptional drama – once again, “Sandford has outdone himself.”

– The number-one New York Times-bestselling novelist Patricia Cornwell is known the world over for her brilliant storytelling, the courage of her characters, and the state-of-the-art forensic methods they employ.

Portrait of a Killer – Jack the Ripper Case Closed by Patricia Cornwell

In this headline-making new work of nonfiction, Cornwell turns her trademark skills for meticulous research and scientific expertise on one of the most chilling cases of serial murder in the history of crime-the slayings of Jack the Ripper that terrorized 1880s London. With the masterful intuition into the criminal mind that has informed her novels, Cornwell digs deeper into the case than any detective before her-and reveals the true identity of this elusive madman.

Enlisting the help of forensic experts, Cornwell examines all the physical evidence available: thousands of documents and reports, fingerprints, crime-scene photographs, original etchings and paintings, items of clothing, artists’ paraphernalia, and traces of DNA. Her unavoidable conclusion: Jack the Ripper was none other than a respected painter of his day, an artist now collected by some of the world’s finest museum.

So, looks like my list of must reads grew a little larger.  Besides the fact that I have all the wonderful new blogs to visit and read about all of their books I can just imagine how big the list will get to be.  Oh well, there are worse things and vices, right? 

Speaking of vices, if you are looking for another chance to win a great book please visit Ardently Book Reviews for a chance to win a copy of Breaking Her Fall by Stephen Goodwin…come on, you know you want to!

Gotta run and visit some of my fellow bloggers.  Have a great Sunday and happy reading!