ARC Arrival: The Last Ember

The Last Ember by Daniel Levin

Publisher: Riverhead Books/Penguin

I received this ARC from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.

About the book: A gripping literary thriller about the highstakes search for the legendary Tabernacle Menorah, a priceless historical artifact stolen from the Second Temple in Jerusalem two thousand years ago and never recovered.

Jonathan Marcus was a promising young archeologist studying at the American Academy in Rome when a terrible accident during an illegal excavation resulted in a friend's death and Jonathan's expulsion from the academy. Jonathan abandoned archaeology for the law, developing a reputation as a skillful advocate for some of the art world's less scrupulous antiquities dealers.

When his firm sends Jonathan to Rome to discredit the testimony of a prominent U.N. antiquities official, he's stunned to discover that the expert is Dr. Emili Travia, a friend and fellow student at the academy who was also at the excavation. This chance reunion prompts Jonathan, against his better judgment, to help Emili as she searches for the fabled Tabernacle Menorah, a priceless historical artifact seized by Roman invaders in the first century A.D. and brought to Rome where it disappeared. As they scour the ancient sites of Rome for hints to the menorah's whereabouts deciphering clues to its location left by ancient spies and eighteenth century art restorers it quickly becomes clear that they are not alone in their quest.

What follows is a treasure hunt like no other, a race to find the menorah in order to control a historical perspective of who can define and redefine the past.

By turns a riveting page-turner and a compelling character study, set in the high-stakes arenas of art, politics, and terrorism, The Last Ember is a provocative and fast-paced glimpse into history, religion, and international law. (from Barnes and Noble)

About the author: Daniel Levin earned his undergraduate degree in Roman and Greek civilization from the University of Michigan and is a graduate of Harvard Law School. He won a visiting scholar's fellowship at the American Academy in Rome and has practiced international law at Debevoise & Plimpton in New York.

The Last Ember
Publisher/Publication Date: Riverhead Books/August 6, 2009
ISBN-13: 9781594488726
432 pages

ARC Arrival: Sweeping Up Glass

Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall

Publisher: Delta/Random House

I received this ARC from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.


About the book: Olivia Harker Cross owns a mountain, or thinks she does, in Pope County, Kentucky, a land where wolves - Olivia's wolves - howl in the night. But now someone is killing the wolves of Big Foley Mountain - and Olivia is beginning to realize how much of her own bitter history she's never fully understood: Her mother's madness, now building toward a fiery crescendo. Her daughter's fight to California, leaving her to raise Will'm, her beloved grandson. And most of all, her town's rage, for Olivia has real and dangerous enemies.

Now this proud, lonely woman will face her mother and daughter, her neighbors, and the wolf hunters of Big Foley Mountain. And when she does, she'll ignite a conflict that will embroil an entire community - and transform her own life in the most surprising ways. (from the book cover)

About the author: Carolyn Wall is an editor and lecturer. As an artist-in residence, she has taught creative writing to more than 4,000 children in Oklahoma, where she is at work on her second novel, The Coffin Maker, coming from Delta in 2010.

Sweeping Up Glass
Publisher/Publication Date: Delta/August 4, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-385-34303-9
336 pages

ARC Arrival: The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha

The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha

Publisher: Broadway Books

I received this book from the publisher through Shelf Awareness.

About the book: Irene and Nate Stanley are living a quiet and contented life with their two children, Bliss and Shep, on their family farm in southern Illinois when Nate suddenly announces he’s been offered a job as a deputy sheriff in Oregon. Irene fights her husband. She does not want to uproot her family and has deep misgivings about the move. Nevertheless, the family leaves, and they are just settling into their life in Oregon’s high desert when the unthinkable happens. Fifteen-year-old Shep is shot and killed during an apparent robbery in their home. The murderer, a young mechanic with a history of assault, robbery, and drug-related offenses, is caught and sentenced to death.

Shep’s murder sends the Stanley family into a tailspin, with each member attempting to cope with the tragedy in his or her own way. Irene’s approach is to live, week after week, waiting for Daniel Robbin’s execution and the justice she feels she and her family deserve. Those weeks turn into months and then years. Ultimately, faced with a growing sense that Robbin’s death will not stop her pain, Irene takes the extraordinary and clandestine step of reaching out to her son’s killer. The two forge an unlikely connection that remains a secret from her family and friends.

Years later, Irene receives the notice that she had craved for so long—Daniel Robbin has stopped his appeals and will be executed within a month. This announcement shakes the very core of the Stanley family. Irene, it turns out, isn’t the only one with a shocking secret to hide. As the execution date nears, the Stanleys must face difficult truths and find a way to come toterms with the past.

Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, The Crying Tree is an unforgettable story of love and redemption, the unbreakable bonds of family, and the transformative power of forgiveness. (from Barnes and Noble)

About the author: NASEEM RAKHA is an award-winning broadcast journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR. She lives in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

Read an excerpt of The Crying Tree.

The Crying Tree
Publisher/Publication Date: Broadway Books/July 7, 2009
ISBN-13: 978-0-7679-3140-3
368 pages

Wonderful Win: Austenland by Shannon Hale

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Publisher: Bloomsbury

I won this book and a beautiful bookmark over at Mari Reads. She had a"show us your bookmarks contest" - and as I am a firm believer that - like books, you can never have too many bookmarks, I entered the contest! She also likes to knit and as I am a lover of anything that involves needles and thread/yarn I enjoy visiting her blog. Go check her out!

About the book: Jane Hayes is a seemingly normal young New Yorker, but she has a secret. Her obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, is ruining her life. No real man can compare.

When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-crazed women, Jane's fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become realer than she ever could have imagined. Decked out in empire-waist gowns, stripped of her modern appliances, Jane throws herself into mastering Regency etiquette and flirts with gardeners and gentlemen - or maybe even, she suspects, with the actors who are playing them.

It's all a game, Jane knows. And yet the longer she stays, the more her insecurities seem to vanish. Is she about to kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

With humor, charm, and perfect sympathy, award-winning author Shannon Hale delivers a novel that will delight every reader who has ever dreamed of escaping into Austenland. (from the book jacket)

About the author: Shannon Hale is the award-winning author of the young adult novels The Goose Girl, Enna Burning, River Secrets, and Princess Academy, a New York Times bestseller and a Newbery Honor Medalist. She is an avid Austen fan and admirer of men in breeches. She lives with her husband and two small children in Salt Lake City, Utah. (from book jacket)

Austenland
Publisher/Publication Date: Bloomsbury/May 2007
ISBN-10: 1-59691-285-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-59691-285-4
194 pages

Why Shoot a Butler? by Georgette Heyer (Book Review)

Title: Why Shoot a Butler?
Author: Georgette Heyer
Publisher/Publication Date: Originally published in 1933 by Georgette Rougier - Reprinted in 2009 by Sourcebooks Landmark.

First sentence: The signpost was unhelpful.

From the back cover: Every family has secrets, but the Fountains' are turning deadly. . . On a dark night, along a lonely country road, barrister Frank Amberley stops to help a young lady in distress and discovers a sports car with a corpse behind the wheel. The girl protests her innocence, and Amberley believes her - at last until he gets drawn into the mystery and the clues incriminating Shirley Brown begin to add up. . . In an English country-house murder mystery with a twist, it's the butler who's the victim, every clue complicates the puzzle, and the bumbling police are well-meaning but completely baffled. Fortunately, in ferreting out a desperate killer, amateur sleuth Amberley is as brilliant as he is arrogant, but this time he's not sure he wants to know the truth.

My thoughts: I am not a huge fan of this genre, having just read my first Agatha Christie novel last fall, but since I liked the Christie novel thought I would give it a shot. This one was just okay for me. It did start to pick up towards the end and I got more engaged in the story, but not sure that I would have stuck with it if I hadn't promised to read it! I am glad that I did though, as I have been wanting to try out some Heyer novels. By the end of the book I did have an idea of who the perpetrator was - but wasn't clear on why he was doing what he was doing. As Amberley began to lay out all the clues, it became clearer to me - and that is when you say -"Oh yeah, how could I have missed that?!" I do have some of her romance books to give a go next and am interested in seeing how they will differ from this mystery.

Read an excerpt of Why Shoot a Butler?

Why Shoot a Butler?
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks/April 2009
ISBN-10: 1-4022-1795-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4022-1795-1
329 pages

Waiting on Wednesday: This Lovely Life

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

This Lovely Life by Vicki Forman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: July 23, 2009

Vicki Forman gave birth to Evan and Ellie, weighing just a pound at birth, at twenty-three weeks’ gestation. During the delivery she begged the doctors to "let her babies go" — she knew all too well that at twenty-three weeks they could very well die and, if they survived, they would face a high risk of permanent disabilities. However, California law demanded resuscitation. Her daughter died just four days later; her son survived and was indeed multiply disabled: blind, nonverbal, and dependent on a feeding tube.

This Lovely Life tells, with brilliant intensity, of what became of the Forman family after the birth of the twins — the harrowing medical interventions and ethical considerations involving the sanctity of life and death. In the end, the longdelayed first steps of a five-year-old child will seem like the fist-pumping stuff of a triumph narrative. Forman’s intelligent voice gives a sensitive, nuanced rendering of her guilt, her anger, and her eventual acceptance in this portrait of a mother’s fierce love for her children. (from Barnes and Noble)

About the author: VICKI FORMAN’s work has appeared in the Seneca Review and the Santa Monica Review as well as in the anthologies Love You to Pieces: Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs, This Day: Diaries from American Women, and Literary Mama: Reading for the Maternally Inclined. She lives in La Canada, California.

Excerpt from This Lovely Life

This Lovely Life
Publication Date: July 23, 2009
ISBN-13: 9780547232751
272 pages

Night Watchman Blog Tour and Giveaway

The Night Watchman by Mark Mynheir

Publisher: Multnomah

About the book: Ray Quinn is a tough, quick-witted homicide detective in love with his partner, Trisha Willis. She gives Ray something to live for—something to hope in. Until a barrage of bullets leaves Trisha murdered and Ray crippled.

Struggling with his new physical disability and severe depression, Quinn turns to whiskey, scorn, and a job as a night watchman to numb the pain. But when a pastor and dancer are found dead in an apparent murder-suicide, the pastor’s sister approaches Quinn for help.

Reluctantly, Quinn takes the case and is plunged into the perilous Orlando. Soon he discovers that, not only was the pastor murdered, but the case may be linked to his and Trisha’s ambush. Torn between seeking revenge or responsibility, Quinn is thrust into the case of his life.

Author Mark Mynheir gives readers his most profound police thriller to date with The Night Watchman (first book in The Night Watchman Private Detective Agency Series). Readers of all ages will devour this gripping murder mystery that bristles with tension and intrigue. In a taut cop-style all his own, Mynheir delivers an inside look at the thoughts, feelings, fears, and challenges police officers experience while investigating violent crimes and the lost souls who commit them.

About the author: A detective with the Criminal Investigations Unit of the Palm Bay Police Department, Mark Mynheir investigates violent crimes and writes riveting Christian fiction. A U.S. Marine with a passion for martial arts and firearms training, Mark has worked on narcotics units, SWAT teams, and myriad high-risk situations. His four novels offer a realistic glimpse into the gritty world of law enforcement and the rarely seen raw emotions behind the badge. Mark lives in Florida with his wife and three children.

Night Watchman
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN 13: 978-1-59052-935-5
352 pages

Thanks to Staci at RandomHouse I have one copy of The Night Watchman to giveaway!

Rules:

1. U.S. only (Sorry guys, I am footing the bill for this one.)
2. Giveaway will run from May 26 until June 16 6pm CST.
3. One book to giveaway.
4. MUST LEAVE EMAIL IN COMMENT. NO EMAIL - NO ENTRY.
   

To enter:

1. Pretty simple - Just tell me whether or not you have ever been a night watchman or security guard. I actually was one in San Diego at a car repo lot - it could get pretty scary at night coming in and out of the building - I was doing it for extra money, and didn't do it for long. . . It was cool to have the security guard uniform though!
   

ARC Arrival: Critical Care

Critical Care by Candace Calvert

Publisher: Tyndale House

I received this book for a First Wild Card Tour on July 1.

About the book: After her brother dies in a trauma room, nurse Claire Avery can no longer face the ER. She's determined to make a fresh start--new hospital, new career in nursing education--move forward, no turning back. But her plans fall apart when she's called to offer stress counseling for medical staff after a heartbreaking day care center explosion. Worse, she's forced back to the ER, where she clashes with Logan Caldwell, a doctor who believes touchy-feely counseling is a waste of time. He demands his staff be as tough as he is. Yet he finds himself drawn to this nurse educator . . . who just might teach him the true meaning of healing.

About the author: Candace Calvert is an ER nurse who landed on the "other side of the stethoscope" after the equestrian accident that broke her neck and convinced her love, laughter - and faith - are the very best medicines of all. The inspirational account of her accident and recovery appears in Chicken Soup for the Nurse's Soul, and launched her writing career.
Her new medical drama series offers readers a chance to "scrub in" on the exciting world of emergency medicine, along with charismatic characters, pulse-pounding action, tender romance, humor, suspense - and a soul soothing prescription for hope.
Born in Northern California and the mother of two, Candace now lives in the Hill Country of Texas. Please visit her website at www.candacecalvert.com.

Critical Care
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN-13: 9781414325439
304 pages

ARC Arrival - Something Borrowed

Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

I received this as a GoodReads Win!

About the book: Rachel has always been a good girl--until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend Darcy throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up in bed with Darcy's fiancé Dex. Rachel is horrified to discover that she has genuine feelings for Dex. She prays for fate to intervene, but when she makes a choice she discovers that the lines between right and wrong are blurry, endings aren't always neat, and you have to risk all to win true happiness.

About the author: Emily Giffin the the author of the New York Times–bestselling novels Something Borrowed, Something Blue, and Baby Proof. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and three young children.

Something Borrowed
Publication date: April 2005
ISBN-13: 9780641802683
352 pages

Purchased Pages: Reader's Digest Select Edition Vol 3, 2009

I am probably one of the few people who still purchase the Reader's Digest Select Editions. I even buy them at garage sales if they are from way back - and my mom just gave me a bunch from the late 1960's early 1970's.

So - the latest one I received contains these books:

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks

Logan Thibault is in search of his destiny. Or at least he thinks he is. During three combat tours in Iraq, Logan carried a photograph he had found of a beautiful young woman he had never met. Could the photo be the reason he came home safe and sound? His mission now is to find this "lucky lady" and to see if more than just chance brought her into his life. A haunting tale of love and the search for meaning.









The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

How do we achieve our dreams? When Professor Randy Pausch was asked to deliver a lecture on what mattered to him the most, he was facing terminal cancer. Rather than dwell on his impending death, Pausch focused instead on life. In this upbeat memoir brimming with courage and humor, Pausch challenges readers not only to achieve their dreams but also to enable the dreams of others, while having fun along the way.






Envy the Night by Michael Koryta

Nearly a decade ago Frank Temple III's world was shattered by a connection to the Miami mob. Now, after years of aimlessness, he's coming back home to an isolated lake in the Wisconsin wilderness to confront the man who destroyed his life. But this homecoming is going to be more complex - and deadly - than he ever could have imagined. An explosive novel of suspense from one of America's finest new writers.








A Foreign Affair by Caro Peacock

The year is 1837. Queen Victoria is about to ascend the throne, and a spirited young Englishwoman named Liberty Lane has just received the shock of her life: Her beloved father has died fighting a duel in France. Or was it murder? Liberty vows to find out. But to do so she must outfox secret agents, dodge scheming noblemen, and prove that, with a little pluck, a "modern" woman can handle anything - even espionage.

Ok - fess up - who out there still buys these books?

Mad Rush to the End of the Month

I have so many books to read before the end of the month I will probably go cross-eyed! I will be giving up memes this week to try to not spend so much time on the computer! I also want to thank the bloggers who gave me awards in the last 2 weeks - I promise - in June I will get them posted!
I also have some pictures of the progression of my reading room to post - and the new deck my sweetie is building for me beside it! In addition - new pictures of my son from today which we spent at Great America. I hope to get those up soon so that Grandma Karol can see them (Hi Mom!)

Ok - books for this week that I need to read!
Why Shoot a Butler? - Georgette Heyer (almost finished)
What the Dead Know - Laura Lippman (1/2 way through)
Thimble Summer - Elizabeth Enright (1/2 way through)
The City of Ember - Jean DuPrau - listening to this one - on chapter 5
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - listening to this one also - not sure what chapter
A Girl's Guide to Modern European Philosophy - Charlotte Grieg - Just started - seems good so far!

Books to start and finish before month end:
Frederica - Georgette Heyer
A Convenient Marriage - Georgette Heyer
Night Watchman - Mark Mynheir (There will be a giveaway with this one)
Annie's Ghosts - Steve Luxenberg
Who Made You a Princess? - Shelly Adina
The Girl Who Stopped Swimming - Joshilyn Jackson


And - I am fighting a problem with my eyes and have to schedule an appointment with an opthamologist (possibly because of an underlying condition that I have - Wegener's Granulomatosa) So that is not helping my reading any.

So, if I am not posting much this week - picture me curled up in a comfy chair - in my new reading room -Sleeping - Reading!

Wonderful Win: Testimony

Testimony by Anita Shreve

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Books

I won this book from Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. This was one of the first blogs that I started following last year - It is a great blog with a large variety of books and information about books - If you are unfamiliar with her, you should go take a look!

About the book: Enter a world upended by the repercussions of a single impulsive action. At an exclusive New England boarding school, a sex scandal unleashes a storm of shame and recrimination. The men, women, and teenagers affected - among them the headmaster, struggling to contain the scandal before it destroys the school; a well-liked scholarship student and star basketball player, grappling with the consequences of his mistakes; his mother, confronting her own forbidden temptations; and a troubled teenage girl eager to put the past behind her - speak out to relate the events of one fateful night and its aftermath.

Writing with a pace and intensity surpassing even her greatest work, Anita Shreve explores the impulses that drive ordinary people into intolerable dilemmas.

About the author: For many readers, the appeal of Anita Shreve’s novels is their ability to combine all of the escapist elements of a good beach read with the kind of thoughtful complexity not generally associated with romantic fiction. Shreve’s books are loaded with enough adultery, eroticism, and passion to make anyone keep flipping the pages, but the writer whom People magazine once dubbed a “master storyteller” is also concerned with the complexities of her characters’ motivations, relationships, and lives.

Shreve’s novels draw on her diverse experiences as a teacher and journalist: she began writing fiction while teaching high school, and was awarded an O. Henry Prize in 1975 for her story, “Past the Island, Drifting.” She then spent several years working as a journalist in Africa, and later returned to the States to raise her children. In the 1980s, she wrote about women’s issues, which resulted in two nonfiction books -- Remaking Motherhood and Women Together, Women Alone -- before breaking into mainstream fiction with Eden Close in 1989.

This interest in women’s lives -- their struggles and success, families and friendships -- informs all of Shreve’s fiction. The combination of her journalist’s eye for detail and her literary ear for the telling turn of phrase mean that Shreve can spin a story that is dense, atmospheric, and believable. Shreve incorporates the pull of the sea -- the inexorable tides, the unpredictable surf -- into her characters’ lives the way Willa Cather worked the beauty and wildness of the Midwestern plains into her fiction. In Fortune’s Rocks and The Weight of Water, the sea becomes a character itself, evocative and ultimately consuming. In Sea Glass, Shreve takes the metaphor as far as she can, where characters are tested again and again, only to emerge stronger by surviving the ravages of life.

A domestic sensualist, Shreve makes use of the emblems of household life to a high degree, letting a home tell its stories just as much as its inhabitants do, and even recycling the same house through different books and periods of time, giving it a sort of palimpsest effect, in which old stories burn through the newer ones, creating a historical montage. "A house with any kind of age will have dozens of stories to tell," she says. "I suppose if a novelist could live long enough, one could base an entire oeuvre on the lives that weave in and out of an antique house."

Shreve’s work is sometimes categorized as “women’s fiction,” because of her focus on women’s sensibilities and plights. But her evocative and precise language and imagery take her beyond category fiction, and moderate the vein of sentimentality which threads through her books. Moreover, her kaleidoscopic view of history, her iron grip on the details and detritus of 19th-century life (which she sometimes intersperses with a 20th-century story), and her uncanny ability to replicate 19th-century dialogue without sounding fusty or fussy, make for novels that that are always absorbing and often riveting. If she has a flaw, it is that her imagery is sometimes too cinematic, but one can hardly fault her for that: after all, the call of Hollywood is surely as strong as the call of the sea for a writer as talented as Shreve.(from Barnes and Noble)

Testimony
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN-13: 9780316067348
352 pages

Arc Arrival: Surviving High Society: Lots of Love Trumps Lots of Money

Surviving High Society: Lots of Love Trumps Lots of Money by Elizabeth Marvin Mulholland

Publisher: Bascom Hill Publishing Group, Limited

I received this autographed copy for review from Bostick Publications and Elizabeth Mulholland.

About the book: To the outside world, Elizabeth Marvin Mulholland had it all. Adopted into a wealthy New England family, the young Elizabeth was afforded the luxury many people only realize in their dreams. She joined her family on lavish European vacations, lived in a finely decorated home, grew up in world heavily infiltrated by power and money, and hob-knobbed with celebrities. As a close friend of Katharine Hepburn's niece, she gained an inside look into Katherine Hepburn's guarded inner life which she details in Surviving High Society. (from Barnes and Noble)

Surviving High Society: Lots of Love Trumps Lots of Money
Publication date: December 2008
ISBN-13: 9781935098072
184 pages

Wonderful Win: Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death by Rita Cosby

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing/Hachette

I won this book at Yvette Kelly's Blog - True Crime Book Reviews - which is exactly what you think - If you are looking for a true crime book - you must check this blog out!

About the book:This is a story about deception, secret deals, and a firestorm of trouble.

Anna Nicole Smith was famous for being famous, Americana at its Scarlet Letter-wearing best. A bodacious young girl from Texas, she remade herself into the centerfold of the world. She was a "dumb blonde," a stripper, a Playboy Playmate, a reality TV star, who boldly took her case against her billionaire husband's family all the way to the US Supreme Court. Easy to dismiss, she was nevertheless a complex character - helpless yet brazen, beautiful yet ugly, outwardly confident yet inwardly frightened. Her tragic life and untimely death evoke an odd mix of fascination, shock, and dismay. And through it all, there still exists a voracious thirst to discover more about who she actually was, what motivated her, and especially how she really died.

You probably think you know all there is to know. She lost her son. She accidentally overdosed. She was a drug addict.
You don't know a thing.

In a book that is sure to surprise even the most avid pop culture junkies, Rita Cosby blows the lid off the story of the year. After an in-depth investigation, this is the definitive journalistic account of the Anna Nicole Smith saga - with unearthed secrets and explosive, never-before-told information. (From Barnes and Noble)

About the author: An Emmy-award winning journalist, Rita Cosby hosted the top-rated show on MSNBC, "Rita Cosby: Live & Direct." She also hosted Fox New Channel's highly rated programs, "Fox News Live with Rita Cosby" and "The Big Story Weekend Edition with Rita Cosby." Some of her groundbreaking interviews include: an exclusive interview with Slobodan Milosevic while he was imprisoned at The Hague; an exclusive interview with Yasser Arafat when his compound was under siege; she was the first journalist to see the suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo and witness an actual interrogation; and a rare, private meeting with Pope John Paul II after receiving an exclusive letter from Timothy McVeigh explaining why he carried out the Oklahoma City bombing. Having interviewed more than a dozen world leaders and four US Presidents, she also made headlines for her interviews with Michael Jackson, David Berkowitz and Dr. Jack Kevorkian. She has been a featured guest on hundreds of television and radio shows worldwide and earned her two bachelors' degrees from the University of South Carolina.

Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death
Publication date: September 2007
ISBN-10:0-446-40611-2
ISBN-13:978-0-446-40611-6
256 pages

Arc Arrival: The Walking People

The Walking People by Mary Beth Keane

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

I received this from Keturah and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt through Shelf Awareness.

About the book: Greta Cahill never believed she would leave her village in the west of Ireland until she found herself on a ship bound for New York, along with her sister Johanna and a boy named Michael Ward. Labeled a "softheaded goose" by her family, Greta discovers that in America she can fall in love, raise her own family, and earn a living. Though she longs to return and show her family what she has made of herself, her decision to spare her children knowledge of a secret in her past forces her to keep her life in New York separate from the life she once loved in Ireland, and tears her apart from the people she is closest to. Even fifty years later, when the Ireland of her memory bears little resemblance to that of present day, she fears that it is still possible to lose all when she discovers that her children—with the best of intentions— have conspired to unite the worlds she’s so carefully kept separate for decades. A beautifully old-fashioned novel, The Walking People is a debut of remarkable range and power. (from Barnes and Noble)

About the author: MARY BETH KEANE attended Barnard College and earned an MFA from the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns Fellow. She was a winner of the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Prize in 2004 and was a 2005 Pushcart Prize nominee. She currently lives in Philadelphia with her husband and son. The Walking People is her first novel.

The Walking People
Publication Date: May 2009
ISBN-13: 9780547126524
416 pages

More Winners!

I have winners to announce for the 4 audiobook giveaways that ended last night at midnight! Thank you Anna and Hachette for these great giveaways!

Boneman's Daughter goes to:
Cindy
Clenna
Nightdweller20

The Horse Boy goes to:
Kitten22
Sue W.
quelleheure4

Mr. Popper's Penguins goes to:
Bermudaonion
Carol M.
gaby317
Allisonmariecat
Valerie2350

Priceless Memories goes to:
Sue W.
Anna
Cindy

All the winners have been emailed and have until midnight Tuesday to get me their information or I will need to draw for new winners! Don't forget to enter the 4 new audiobook giveaways that were just posted last night!

The Way Home - New Audiobook Giveaway!

The last giveaway for tonight - also from Hachette books and Anna (lets here some shout outs out there!) The Way Home by George Pelecanos (read by Dion Graham)

Christopher Flynn is trying to get it right. After years of trouble and rebellion that enraged his father and nearly cost him his life, he has a steady job in his father's company, he's seriously dating a woman he respects, and, aside from the distrust that lingers in his father's eyes, his mistakes are firmly in the past.

One day on the job, Chris and his partner come across a temptation almost too big to resist. Chris does the right thing, but old habits and instincts rise to the surface, threatening this new-found stability with sudden treachery and violence. With his father and his most trusted friends, he takes one last chance to blast past the demons trying to pull him back.

Like Richard Price or William Kennedy, Pelecanos pushes his characters to the extremes, their redemption that much sweeter because it is so hard fought. Pelecanos has long been celebrated for his unerring ability to portray the conflicts men feel as they search and struggle for power and love in a world that is often harsh and unforgiving but can ultimately be filled with beauty. (from Barnes and Noble)

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.
   

The Secret Speech - New Audiobook Giveaway!

Another 3 copies of this audiobook - The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith (read by Dennis Boutsikaris) is available because of Hachette Books and Anna!

Tom Rob Smith-the author whose debut, Child 44, has been called "brilliant" (Chicago Tribune), "remarkable" (Newsweek) and "sensational" (Entertainment Weekly)-returns with an intense, suspenseful new novel: a story where the sins of the past threaten to destroy the present, where families must overcome unimaginable obstacles to save their loved ones, and where hope for a better tomorrow is found in the most unlikely of circumstances . . .

THE SECRET SPEECH Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture-leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin's successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change.
Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo's past career.
Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.
From the streets of Moscow in the throes of political upheaval, to the Siberian gulags, and to the center of the Hungarian uprising in Budapest, THE SECRET SPEECH is a breathtaking, epic novel that confirms Tom Rob Smith as one of the most exciting new authors writing today. (description from Barnes and Noble)

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.

Cemetary Dance - New Audiobook Giveaway!

)Thank you Hachette and Anna for the 3 copies of the audiobook - Cemetery Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (read by Rene Auberjonois) that are up for a giveaway!


Pendergast-the world's most enigmatic FBI Special Agent-returns to New York City to investigate a murderous cult.

William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museum of Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier. While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D'Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou which no outsiders have ever survived.

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.

The Scarecrow - New Audiobook Giveaway

Thank you Anna and Hachette for all the great audio book giveaways going on right now!

I have three copies of The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly(read by Peter Giles) to give away!

Forced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paperto write the definitive murder story of his career.

He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow's so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent.

Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poet made his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar--and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack's.

Rules are:

1. Open only to U.S. and Canada
2. No PO Boxes
3. 3 copies to giveaway
4. Giveaway ends June 15 at 1:00pm CST

Entering is easy(ALL ENTRIES IN ONE COMMENT IS FINE):

1. Leave a comment (MUST INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT!)
2. Follow my blog +2 (please let me know if you already follow also)
   
3. Twitter or post on your blog, let me know in your comment that you have done this - +2 (if you twitter, please use @kherbrand in tweet)
4. Maximum entries is 5.
   

Winners of duMaurier books!

So sorry I am late posting the winners of Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel - without further ado

To AuntRene for winning Frenchman's Creek and
to Jessica.Marie for winning My Cousin Rachel!
I will be notifying the winner's by e-mail and they will have 3 days to get me their info or I will have to draw for new winners. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did learning all about Daphne du Maurier!

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne Du Maurier (Book Review)

Title: Frenchman's Creek
Author: Daphne DuMaurier
Publisher/Publication Date: Originally published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz LTD, 1941.
Reprinted by Sourcebooks Landmark, March 2009

First sentence: When the East wind blows up Helford River the shining waters become troubled and disturbed and the little waves beat angrily upon the sandy shores.

My summary: In chapter 2, when we first meet Dona (Lady Dona st. Columb) she appears to be a selfish, spoiled brat. Running away from London, from her husband, from her life - which she felt was smothering her. She was looking for escape. She did not like the woman she had become and was afraid that that was all there was to her life. She travels to Navron, their country estate, of which she has not seen in over 6 years. With her in her escape are her 2 children and their nanny, Prue.

She settles into life at Navron very easily and enjoys the solitude and the quiet that it brings her. On one of her walks she discovers a creek that flows through the trees on the property. Before she knows it, she has been taken 'prisoner' by a pirate whose ship is docked in her creek. This pirate is the Frenchman.

They soon realize that they are very much alike in their search for escape and adventure. Their unlikely friendship quickly turns to love. The Frenchman has been plundering many of Dona's neighbors and relieving them of their treasures. These neighbors finally band together, putting out the call to Harry, Dona's husband in London, as well as others to come and help catch this pirate.

What will Dona choose? Her new life as a pirate with the man who has become more important to her than she could have ever guessed? Or her husband and children and a life in London that seems stifling? With either choice comes loses that will be hard to bear. Which would you choose?

My thoughts: I loved this book. For some reason I tend to avoid books that were published before I was born. I am not sure why this is, as I always seem to enjoy them. Maybe because many of these were books or authors that we were "supposed" to read in school.

After reading the first chapter of The Frenchman's Creek, I didn't know how I was going to make it through the book. Before I knew it, I was so caught up in the story that I did not want to put it down.

Her writing is so easy and flowing that it was wonderful to read -

The wheel of La Mouette lifted under her hands, and the ship heeled over in the freshening breeze, and all this, she thought, is part of what we feel for each other, and part of the loveliness of living, the strength that lies in the hull of a ship, the beauty of sails, the surge of water, the taste of the sea, the touch of the wind on our faces, and even the little simple pleasures of eating, and drinking, and sleeping, all these we share with delight and understanding, because of the happiness we have in one another. (p162)

I have owned My Cousin Rachel, Rebecca, and Jamaica Inn for at least 15 years and have not read them. I am definitely going to read them after enjoying Frenchman's Creek so much!

Stay tuned for my winners of Frenchman's Creek and My Cousin Rachel which were supposed to be announced 2 days ago!

Frenchman's Creek
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Landmark/March 2009
ISBN 10: 1-4022-1710-2
ISBN 13:978-1-4022-1710-4
280 pages

The Friday 56 5-22-2009

Rules:
* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.




"Is it Carly?" I asked, a catch in my throat.
He looked shocked. "How did you know?"
(p56, Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin)

Friday Finds 5-22-2009

Here are my finds this week!

The Texicans by Nina Vida

It's 1843, San Antonio, the Republic of Texas. Mexican-born Aurelia Ruiz finds that she may have the power to heal-as well as to curse. She definitely has the power to attract men. Willie Barnett, a young Texas ranger, becomes infatuated with her. Her father sells her to him but insists on a wedding. To the other rangers such a marriage is anathema. When Barnett is killed by Native Americans, pregnant Aurelia finds shelter in a Comanche camp. Joseph Kimmel, a teacher in Independence, Missouri, and son of a Polish Jew, receives word of the death of his brother in San Antonio and sets off for Texas. On the way, his horse is stolen by a runaway slave. Rescued by Henry Castro, who is importing immigrants to populate his planned city, Joseph agrees to marry an Alsatian girl to save her from the Comanches, and they go forth to start their own ranch. Then Joseph meets and is enthralled by Aurelia. When the Texas rangers hear of the Kimmel ranch, where runaway slaves and a Mexican woman live as equals with the owner and his wife, they lynch the black men and kidnap the women and children. To his wife's consternation, Joseph cannot forget Aurelia.(from Barnes and Noble)




Unseen by Nancy Bush

She Woke Up With No Memories...

She wakes up in a hospital room...bruised...bloody...confused. She knows her name is Gemma La Porte—but that's all. She doesn't remember smashing her car. She doesn't remember anything from the last three days. But a policeman, Deputy Will Tanninger, is waiting for answers and wants to know if she's responsible for a fatal hit-and-run...

But Remembering Her Past Could Kill Her...

Hoping to restore her shattered memory, Gemma has no choice but to put her trust in Will. But if it turns out she's guilty of murder, he has no choice but to arrest her. Torn by her growing feelings for Will, and haunted by her shadowy past, Gemma is determined to learn the truth. But, in this case, the darkest truths are unknowable—and the deadliest enemies are unseen...(from Barnes and Noble)

The Texicans
Publisher/Publication Date: Soho Press/October 2006
ISBN-13: 9781569474341
304 pages


Unseen
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington Publishing Corp/April 2009
ISBN-13: 9781420103403
384 pages

What great books did you find this week?? Stop over at Should Be Reading and share yours!

Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione (Book Review)

Title: Pleasure Unbound (Demonica Series #1)
Author: Larissa Ione
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Publication Date: 2008
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Why read: I read this in preparation for the next 2 books in the series which I have received as ARC's.

First sentence: Had Eidolon been anywhere but the hospital, he would have killed the guy pleading for his life before him.

My summary: Eidolon is a doctor and the head of staff at UGH - Underworld General Hospital. On staff are his two brothers, Wraith and Shade. But as you can tell by the name of the hospital - this is no ordinary hospital. It is a hospital for demons.

Eidolon is a Seminus demon as are his brothers -but they all had different mothers. At the age of 100, Seminus demons begin a stage called S'genesis. If they don't find a mate before that process, they will feel the urge to procreate with any and all females after the maturation cycle is completed. They will also be able to shapeshift into the male of any demon species.

Eidolon meets Tayla when she is brought into his ER. Even though she is an Aegi slayer, a human trained to kill demons, because of UGH's charter, she cannot be turned away. To make things even more convoluted, upon examination they discover she is 1/2 demon and doesn't know it!

And so begins the romance between Eidolon and Tayla - both of whom struggle with their desire to be together and their revulsion as to the other's lineage and profession.

Tayla's mother died when she was 16 - she was killed by a demon - a Soulshredder. Tayla was taken in by the Guardians and trained to be an Aegi. They are the only family she has ever really known.

When she discovers she is 1/2 demon - she doesn't know to which world she belongs. Add to that the fact that someone is killing demons for their body parts - and her cell of the guardians seem to be involved - and the mystery deepens.


My thoughts: This was a book I didn't think I would enjoy as much as I did. WARNING - there is "mature sexual content" and language. If you are a fan of this genre and haven't started this series - now is the time!


Pleasure Unbound
ISBN: 044640103X
ISBN-13:9780446401036
Publication date: July 2008
416 pages

Weekend Track Meet and Dinner Theater

This past weekend my daughter Lexi was very busy! She performed with her show choir both Friday and Saturday nights at a dinner theater at her school. All day on Saturday she was also at the sectional track meet - she throws discus.

Lexi had never been in track before this year - never even picked up a discus before April - yet she took first in one meet - and took third at sectionals out of 18 girls (9 schools)! I have some pictures of her below

I don't have any pictures of her performing at dinner theater as flash photography wasn't allowed - but there was a raffle and we came home with two prizes~!



One raffle was for a bag containing a notebook, puzzlebook, pen, flavored water, chocolate and a $10 gift card to Borders!

The second raffle had an Evinrude hat and T-Shirt and a gift certificate for a pie at Baker's Square.

Needless to say - we had a great Saturday!

New Giveaway: Bound to Please

Bound to Please by Lilli Feisty

Thank you Hachette Books and Anna for allowing me to give away 5 copies of this book!

FROM FANTASY TO ECSTASY

Ruby Scott is a beautiful, quiet event planner who leads an oh-so-respectable life. Yet the things that go on in her secret fantasies are anything but. She has every intention of keeping her hidden desires under wraps-until she meets a gorgeous, hard-muscled man ten years her junior. Mark St. Crow is a gifted, up-and-coming musician who collects erotic art and loves to "play" women as much as his piano. After one night of uninhibited passion, Ruby realizes there's no turning back. But as she surrenders to her deepest needs and lets Mark control every forbidden thrill, her passion for him builds. Can the wild, intoxicating nights they share lead to a love that will last forever?

About the author: Lilli was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. She spent the majority of her twenties working just enough to pay for extended trips to Europe. Some of her fascinating employment titles included makeup artist, secretary, and perpetual student. She owned an art gallery for several years, holds a degree in Creative Arts and was just a thesis short of her MA when she decided to drop out of school to write romance.

Other than writing, some of her obsessions include tattoos, reality television, and beaches. Visit her on her website, lillianfeisty.com, where she loves to ramble about the strangest things.

Rules

1. Giveaway open only to U.S. and Canada.
2. No P.O. Boxes
3. Five (5) copies to giveaway!
4. Giveaway will end - Friday June 5th at 11:59PM CST.

How to enter: (PLEASE PUT ALL ENTRIES INTO ONE COMMENT)

1. Enter once just by commenting below Leave E-mail address in comment!
2. If you follow my blog through google, RSS, E-mail - whichever way - 2 entries (this counts for new and old followers - be sure to mention it either way!)
3. Twitter or blog about it - 2 more entries.
4. MAX OF 5 ENTRIES ONLY.

New Giveaway: One Deadly Sin

One Deadly Sin by Annie Solomon

Thank you to Hachette books and Anna for allowing me to give away 5 copies of this book!

COMING HOME IS MURDER...


Revenge. Edie Swann has hungered for it since she fled her hometown as a little girl. Now she's returned, ready for payback. Armed with a list of names, she leaves each one a chilling sign that they have blood on their hands. Her father's blood. What happens next turns her own blood cold: one by one, the men she's targeted start dying.


Sheriff Holt Drennen knows Edie is hiding something. She has a haunted look in her eyes and a defiant spirit, yet he can't believe she's a murderer. As the body count rises and all evidence points to Edie, Holt is torn between the town he's sworn to protect and the woman he's come to desire. But nothing is what it seems. Long buried secrets begin to surface, and a killer won't be satisfied until the sins of the past are paid in full--this time with Edie's blood.

About the author: A native New Yorker, RITA-winning author Annie Solomon has been dreaming up stories since she was ten. After a twelve-year career in advertising, where she rose to Vice President and Head Writer at a mid-size agency, she abandoned the air conditioners, furnaces, and heat pumps of her professional life for her first love--romance. An avid knitter and mother of a daughter attending college, she now lives in Nashville with her husband. You can visit her Web site at anniesolomon.net.

Rules

1. Giveaway open only to U.S. and Canada.
2. No P.O. Boxes
3. Five (5) copies to giveaway!
4. Giveaway will end - Friday June 5th at 11:59PM CST.

How to enter: (PLEASE PUT ALL ENTRIES INTO ONE COMMENT)

1. Enter once just by commenting below Leave E-mail address in comment!
2. If you follow my blog through google, RSS, E-mail - whichever way - 2 entries (this counts for new and old followers - be sure to mention it either way!)
3. Twitter or blog about it - 2 more entries.
4. MAX OF 5 ENTRIES ONLY.