Commercial interruption

Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days.  Many of you who use google chrome (myself included) received a "something's not right here" warning when trying to visit my blog.  It went on to list a blog, that I had on my blogroll, as to be distributing suspicious malware.  I finally figured out who it was (as the blog name did not match the url, and upon trying to go the url to see who they were, discovering that the site had been taken down.)

Couple that with the fact that I have too many blogs in my google reader to be able to "manage" them and delete blogs that way, and I found myself getting very frustrated!  Well, last night, I sat down with a clear head and was finally able to get them off my blogroll (YEAH!).  I am still getting the warning from google chrome, but I believe that just takes time to flush back through the system to show me as being "clean".  I have sent them a reconsideration request to try to help push it along, but I have no idea how long that will take.

So now I am at least 4 reviews behind as well as one guest post, and feel like I am coming down with strep.  (I should be able to write the reviews feeling like this though, because I tend to not over think them and they come out easier - just forgive me if they don't make sense!  lol)

So now I am done with my rant and will return you back to your regularly scheduled programming.

It's a New Year!

Well, 2011 was a long year for my family.  Blogging took a backseat for much of the year due to my daughter's unexpected pregnancy and open adoption of a beautiful baby girl, Kalii Faith, in November.  Her pregnancy was a huge impact on our family dynamics and opened all of our eyes - hopefully in a good way, but only time will tell.  It was definitely an emotional year for all of us. 

It did make me take a look at the direction that my book blog had taken since I started it a few years ago.  I began blogging because I could not find a book club that met on a day that I could attend!  I wanted to find other book lovers to share my love of books with! The first year I did a lot of challenges and was able to visit a lot of blogs and had a lot of fun meeting people.  Then I started reviewing books for publishers and authors and hosting giveaways and challenges fell to the wayside, as did most of my impulse reading.  I felt like I was on a schedule to read books and over time it wasn't as much fun anymore.

So this year, I want to try to get back to more of the challenges and the visiting other book blogs.  I still want to review books, but I think I am going to be choosier in the books that I pick. I hope to host more authors for guest blogs and interviews.  My TBR list will probably get longer, as there will be books that I would like to read from publishers, that I will not accept, so as to keep reading a pleasure and not a pressure!

Over the next few days I will be posting about a lot of challenges that I want to try, so you will be seeing a lot of posts about those.  Like anything, I will probably bite off more than I can chew and sign up for far more than I will complete.  But if I actually completed them all - then where would the challenge be?  lol

As the title of my blog states, I also love Needlepoint.  I belong to (and am current secretary) of the Lake County Chapter of the American Needlepoint Guild (ANG).  I also belong to Cyberpointers, the online group.  I am also an at-large-member of the Embroidery Group of America(EGA) and belong to Cyberstitchers, their online group. I love to visit needlepoint shops and look at canvases and threads, subscribe to a few different cross-stitch magazines, and have signed up for a few online classes, and still manage to NOT stitch much at all.  I would like this to change this year.  I would love to start finishing some of my projects!  So hopefully, you will start to see a few more posts about some of the projects that I am working on.  

So Happy New Year everyone!  I hope that all of my readers meet some goals this year and that I get more of a chance to get to actually know some of you a little better.

Donation Day!

So, I seem to have gotten motivated over the weekend to finally clear out all the giveaway stuff from our spare bedroom.  Even though I was the one that put it in the bedroom, I was the one that packed it all up, and I was the one that hauled it outside - I still felt like I needed to rip open all the boxes and make sure I hadn't put anything in that I couldn't bear to part with!  Ever feel that way?

Well, I restrained myself and sometime during the day it all disappeared.  But, speaking of donations - I will be "donating" a box of books to one of my readers starting later tonight!    Watch for the "Back to the Books Giveaway Hop"!

Dear Anonymous

I recently received this comment on a blog post which ended up in my spam mailbox -

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Mailbox Monday (Aug 22, 2011)":
I think you should stop spamming other people's blog with back links to your own. I already reported your blog to google as a spam and they are investigating. You can read this forum and see how other people are complaining about your abuse of "link to this post" on others' blogs.

So Dear Anonymous,

This is the way that I understand back links.  Evidently I follow your blog or have linked to your blog in someway on mine - whether it is in a sidebar or in an actual post or my blog roll. This is what creates the back link.  It is not a person, physically going to your blog and adding a link - although I do believe they can be added that way also.  Since you are "anonymous", I have no way of knowing whether you are on my blogroll or not.  The forum that you referred me to in your comment is from March of 2010 and I have no idea whether or not I was the "Needlepoint Lady" referred to in the forum. I am guessing that I am though as the person originating that forum had been in my blogroll.  If they would have taken the time to actually read my blog and not just the name, they would have seen that my blog is more about Books and Book Blogging than Needlepoint and as they were a writer, maybe would have liked knowing that they were in my blogroll.  (I have since removed them from my blogroll as it seemed to cause them issues). 

I do not have the time or the inclination to journey around the blogosphere and leave links randomly here and there, and I would never post a link on someone else's site without their permission first.  Blogging to me is a community, and whatever we can do to support one another is high up on my list.  If you would like to contact me at my email address - clearly listed in my profile - I would be more than happy to try to figure out why my links are showing up on your blog and remove that information from mine.

Meanwhile, if any of my readers understand the issue of backlinks, or can explain it better - please feel free to jump in here.


Now maybe I can get back to reading. . .

Reality

Well, if you have been reading my blog for any amount of time, you will have realized that my posting has gone down in the last six months to just the bare minimum.  I wanted to take a minute of your time to let you know what was going on in our lives (and ask for prayer - if you are the praying type).

In April, we found out that our 16 year old daughter was pregnant.  It definitely threw our family for a loop.  Pretty much sucked the air out of any energy I had for reading/blogging.  At first, she was very adamant about keeping the child (a girl) and raising her, finishing high school, going to college.  We didn't feel that we could discourage her one way or the other, as we didn't want her to resent us for making her give up the baby/or keep the baby.  This needed to be her decision.

As time has passed though, our daughter has decided to enter into an open adoption with my sister and BIL.  They have been trying to have a baby for years, and had even tried to adopt a baby from Haiti, but with no luck. She has realized that with school and work, that her baby would be spending more time with caregivers than with her and so feels this would be the best thing for the baby.

My emotions have been all over the place. (and we won't even talk about how my husband has been feeling)  Once I had accepted the fact that she was actually pregnant (well - still haven't fully accepted that. . .) and that she wanted to raise the baby I tried to come to terms with what my role was going to be in this child's life.  I knew that even though I said that SHE was going to be the baby's mother, that a lot of the child's care was going to fall to me.  Made me realize that I really did not want to have another baby.   Then when she decided to pursue the adoption, it took me awhile to accept the fact that the baby was NOT going to be here.  Because she is being adopted by my sister though, I still get to be a grandma (as well as an aunt. . .) 

I know that the closer her due date comes (10/29) the harder everything is going to become.  I am not sure how much of a support system that I am going to be for my daughter after the baby is born and goes home with my sister - as I cry at kleenex commercials.   Her first day of school is coming up in a couple of weeks - she will be starting her junior year of h.s. - and she is a little worried how people are going to act around her/with her.  She wasn't really showing when school ended last year, and she is definitely showing now.  I don't think she realizes how much bigger she is going to get in the next 3 months.  So please just keep us in your prayers.

So, as to blogging - my reading has been picking up, but I have been very slow with reviews.  I hope to begin to get caught up on reviews this month and my goal is to be fully functioning blogwise again by Sept 1.  So, if you have stuck with me through this hiatus - thank you so much, and if you have just recently started reading my blog - please stay tuned! 

Ignore the date in the picture - finally figured out how to change my camera!  Here is a pic of my daughter as we waited for a boat last week on vacation to take us to Shell Key. (We were in St. Pete's, FL)

A Thread of Sky Book Party!

RSVP to deannafei@booktrib.com to register and then join them Tuesday, April 26 at 3pm E.T. at BookTrib. You could win one of 10 exclusive BookTrib gift bags filled with goodies including a handmade passport holder from Dollbirdies, a handmade wallet from Dumb Kid Designs and a notebook to record your travels made from recycled materials from Jenni Bick.

Readathon Timeout

Last week my husband and I both celebrated birthdays - but our family was not all in the same place geographically - so we celebrated this morning!  I just wanted to say that I love all my gifts - but my favorite is the Stephen King book - Under the Dome!  What a great gift to receive during readathon!  Now - will I be reading it today?  Unfortunately no - at over 1000 pages I would not feel like I had made any progress.

Happy reading everyone!

Getting ready for the read-a-thon!

The read-a-thon is almost here!  It has been penciled in on my calendar for months and a babysitter for my son has been lined up.  He gets to go spend the night at his aunt's house, which I think is his favorite place to be, so I know he will be having fun!  Now I just need to find a sitter for my husband

I am hoping that the weather continues to warm up so that I can read in my favorite spot - our new three season room!  Ok, it has been 2 years since we put it in, but it still feels new to me!  We are still searching for the right lighting for this room though.   What do you think of this one?

I kind of like it because it doesn't look like a floor lamp - I think it sort of looks like a table lamp.  I don't know whether that makes it cool or weird. (lol) 
Are you going to be reading in the read-a-thon?  What is your favorite place to read?  Do you like natural light or table lamps?  I'm counting the days!

Giveaway Announcement!

EZ Read is having a book giveaway in honor of the new Jane Eyre movie out this month.  They were offering some movie tickets, but the time for that has already passed - but you still have time to win won of 5 copies of the new Penguin classics hardcover edition of Jane Eyre.  Just go here to enter.  The contest ends March 31.

Trailer for Miss Scarlet's School of Patternless Sewing

For more information - please see my review and giveaway!

Rambling

I have been thinking lately about why I started blogging a couple of years ago.  It was because I could not find a book club with hours that I could attend - and so I found some online book clubs.  These lead me to reading challenges (which is why I started the blog) and that led me to ARCs.

I have loved receiving and reading ARCs the last couple of years, but I didn't do any challenges last year at all and some of the weekly memes that I used to participate in have fallen away also.

So - I am going to continue to read ARCs, but am going to try to start doing the memes again and am going to sign up for probably more challenges than I can keep track of!  I am not sure yet how I am going to post about the challenges, but chances are you are going to be flooded with posts over the next couple of days.  I will apologize in advance for this, but maybe it will entice some of you to join in some of the challenges, too.

To Kindle or Not to Kindle?

A while back I left a post asking for any opinions over the Kindle, Nook, Sony e-reader or any of the various ones that are out there.  I am very grateful to all the responses that I received and all of the information.  There were a lot of good points brought up that I had not even considered.  So after much thought I decided to ask Santa for a Nook this year - as I feel that I would be utilizing the library option quite often.


And then - this morning - I open my email and discover that I WON A KINDLE 3G FROM BITTEN BY BOOKS!!!!    I was bouncing off the ceiling and when I told my son what I had won - he said "Is it a toy?"  I told him it was a toy for mommy.  Of course, when I called "Santa" to tell him that I had won - in a very monotone voice he says - "That's just great. . . "  But called later to tell me that it really was pretty cool.

So, since I am pretty sure that the Nook was already purchased - given my husband's less than enthusiastic response - I guess I didn't need to make up my mind after all!     Maybe I can get my electronically motivated daughters to read now, too!

So thank you Bitten by Books!  If you are a fan of paranormal books you must check out this website - they are ALWAYS having great giveaways and have many many many author visits all the time! 

Warren Pride Award

My daughter was presented this morning with a Warren Pride Award at her school.  There was about 8-10 kids who won the award for the Nov/Dec months.  It was really cool to see her honored out of the 1000's of kids in her school!  The teachers nominate kids and then a committee picks the final winners.  They are chosen on academic excellence, school spirit, making the school a better place, most improved academically or one more that I can't remember! 

Anyway - this is what her Spanish teacher had to say about her:

Lexi is a very bright student in Spanish 1 and has a lot of friends in class. She does not let this become a distraction but instead is continuously helping other students in class.  She is extremely patient, kind, and positive in her attitude.  Lexi will give up her own time to help someone understand a concept.

Here she is with Dr. Brierton, principal, reading her nomination and presenting her with the award.

Lexi I am so proud of you!!!

To Kindle or Not To Kindle? PLEASE READ

It is that time of year when my husband is trying to figure out what I would like for Christmas.  The idea of a Kindle came up.  So, I am asking other book reviewers - do you have an E-reader and do you get books for review on them?  Also - if you do have an E-reader - which one do you prefer?  For publishers - do you have many review books available for Kindle?  (or Nook, etc)?

THANK YOU!

Don't Forget About the Facebook Party tonight!

Facebook Party for A Hope Undaunted is tonight, Thursday, Oct 7 from 5pm - 6pm PST.  Come and join in the fun and win some great prizes!

Viruses and Spam!

This was me for much of this week!  I got a mother-of-a-virus on my system that left me pretty much immobilized!  Whenever I tried to remove the application causing the problem, it would tell me the program that I was using to remove it had a virus!  Very frustrating!  This has put me tremendously behind (no posts in six days!) and I have a stack of books next to me waiting for reviews - not to mention my mailbox post.  Aaarrgghhh.  Then, I finally get back on line today (thanks to my ex-husband, the computer tech - good thing we are still friends!) only to find mucho spam on my blog.  I love the spam catcher that blogspot is using because ever since I participated in the blogfest a couple of weeks, my spam has exploded!  Any body else dealing with this?  Well, just wanted to updated why I had been away, and hope to get back on track!  Happy weekend and happy reading!

Here, Home, Hope ---- You Choose!

Kaira needs your help!

Which would you choose?  You can vote at Facebook until Wednesday, 5pm EST.  Go make your vote count!

VOTE HERE

Kaira Rouda

Kaira is an award winning author, entrepreneur, mom of four who lives in Malibu, CA. She was selected as one of Forbes' 30 women to follow on Twitter and Twittergrader's Most Powerful Women. Her first novel women's fiction novel - Here, Home, Hope - is comingt May 2011.

http://www.kairarouda.com/

Links:
Twitter
Facebook

Win a Kindle at Bitten By Books!

Bitten By Books is having 2 - yes 2 different contests with the chance to win a Kindle going on right now!

The first is a contest with Anya Bast talking about her new book Cruel Enchantment! - You can enter it here: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=302672

The second contest is this weekend only for the Blog Fest!  You can enter to win that Kindle here: http://bittenbybooks.com/?p=30336

Be sure to head over there and check them out!!!

Thrillerfest V

SUSPENSE AND THE CITY

MASTERS OF LITERATURE’S THRILLER GENRE ARE ABOUT TO EXECUTE AN EVENT SO PERFECT IT’S ALMOST CRIMINAL

ThrillerFest V, the world’s most diabolically delicious literature festival, chills

New York City July 7-10, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel

There’s only one event where New York Times best-selling masters of the art lurk around every corner, agents appear in broad daylight and fans conspire with writers in the wee, small hours of the night – ThrillerFest V, the International Thriller Writers’ fifth annual celebration of their genre and the largest event of its kind in the world.

The highlight of the event will be the gala ITW Thriller Awards Banquet on Saturday when the heroes of suspense will be honored:

• International best-selling author Ken Follett will receive the 2010 ThrillerMaster Award given by 2009 recipient David Morrell
• Mark Bowden, author of Black Hawk Down will become the first recipient of the True Thriller Award
• Brad Meltzer, recipient of the 2009 Silver Bullet Award, will present the 2010 award to Linda Fairstein

And this year’s winners in the categories of Best Hardcover Novel, Best Paperback Original, Best First Novel and Best Short Story will be revealed.

But the list of the notables doesn’t end there – more than 50 best-selling authors and another 200 up-and-comers will be at the festival, ready to mix and mingle with fans, aspiring writers and industry executives. In fact, ThrillerFest is often called the summer camp of literary events. Everyone--the famous, the infamous, the law-abiding, and the unsung -- all freely chat and party together while sharing their love of thrillers.

There will be plenty of thrills during the four-day event. In the spotlight will be interviews with top authors, each interrogated by another thriller master:

• Ken Follett, legendary author of The Eye of the Needle, Pillars of the Earth, and World Without End is the recipient of the ITW 2010 ThrillerMaster Award, will be interviewed by Steve Berry.
• David Morrell, last year’s recipient of the ThrillerMaster Award and author of First Blood, will be interviewed by Douglas Preston.
• Lisa Scottoline, author of the legal thrillers Killer Smile and Lady Killer, will be interviewed by Jon Land.
• Gayle Lynds, the Queen of International Suspense, will be interviewed by Lisa Gardner.
• Harlan Coben, whose novels Hold Tight and Long Lost debuted at number 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list, will be interviewed by Kathleen Antrim.

The panels are only the beginning. Returning are CraftFest and AgentFest, mini-festivals within the conference. During the two-day CraftFest, writers looking to hone their craft can take workshops from many New York Times Best Selling authors. An afternoon at AgentFest will be like speed-dating as aspiring writers get a chance to pitch their manuscripts to more than 40 agents. There will also be a complete bookstore, a reader’s reception and many, many book signings.

And what would a gathering of fans and writers of intense suspense be without a party, or should we say, parties? There’s one every night during ThrillerFest V including a celebration of four great, new publications on Friday night:

• Wednesday – Get acquainted at the CraftFest cocktail party.
• Thursday – Festivities officially begin with an opening reception cocktail party.
• Friday – The brand new ITW publication reception cocktail party will feature a grand book signing with dozens of best-selling authors.
• Saturday – One ticket to the ITW Awards Banquet gets you into three parties: the pre-event cocktail party, the Awards Banquet and the post-event party and happy recap.

Register now by going to http://www.thrillerfest.com/ and clicking on “Registration.” Like all great literary thrill rides, you’ll want to follow this one all the way to the end.

I so wish that I could go to this!!  Is anyone out there going to be attending?

Home Sweet Home

I am happy to be home!  Back on my computer system - no connectivity issues!  Yeah!  I have at least 5 reviews to do that I can think of and many many giveaways - and winners to announce!   Hopefully over the next few days I will be able to get a lot done!  I have a HUGE 2 week mailbox to share.  So many good books coming up this summer I don't know where to start!   But, the unthinkable has finally happened.  I have lost a book!  I am supposed to be reading I Love This Bar by Carolyn Brown and I cannot find it anywhere!  Between getting the house ready for my daughter's graduation earlier this month, and then going to my mom's house I have lost this book!  I even called my mom to see if maybe she had picked it up in the books that I gave to her.  I am bummed because it is the first in a series and I have the next 2 to read this summer already!  My husband tells me I just need to stop looking and it will show up.  I will be sure to let you know if it does!   On to my reviews!