Where I share my love of books with reviews, features, giveaways and memes. Family and needlepoint are thrown in from time to time.

Monday, November 1, 2010

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Nov 1)






What are you reading on Mondays is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey - You can hook up with the Mr. Linky there with your own post - but be sure and let me know what you are reading too! 


Currently Reading:

Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
Take a Chance on Me by Jill Mansell

Bathroom Book:
Surrender the Heart by M.L. Tyndall


Audio Book:
The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris

New this week:
Vixen by Jillian Larkin
The Peanuts Collection by Nat Gertler
Ansel Adams in the National Parks
Everything Christmas by David Bordon and Tom Winters
Montana Glory by R.C. Ryan

Books reviewed Last Week:
Somewhere Along the Way by Jodi Thomas
The Miracle of Mercy Land by River Jordan
My Give a Damn's Busted by Carolyn Brown

Books Waiting to Be Reviewed:
Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold by Jennifer Ackerman
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Big Dirt Nap by Rosemary Harris
Two Lethal Lies by Annie Solomon
Perfection by Julie Metz
Dewey's Nine Lives by Vicki Myron
When I Stop Talking, You'll Know I'm Dead by Jerry Weintraub (audio)

Books that have been languishing here so long I will probably have to re-read to review!
Meet Me in Dreamland: A Lu-Chu and Lena Book by Steven McKinney, Valerie McKinney
Masked edited by Lou Anders

Ready - Set - Read!

Mailbox Madness (Oct 25 - Oct 31)

Bison roam the Black Hills of South Dakota


In My Mailbox is hosted Sundays at The Story Siren.  Mailbox Monday's host for November is Julie at Knitting and Sundries. Please visit these posts and take a look at what packages everybody else got this week!


FOR REVIEW:


by Caridad Pineiro

Dr. Liliana Carrera nearly lost her life to Wardwell scientists.  She won't let them harm other innocent victims, like her new patient, Jesse Bradford.  The former pro athlete had the best hands in the NFL. . . until an injury forced him to undergo Wardwell's experimental gene therapy.  Now Jesse's gorgeous body is superhuman -- but it comes at a price.

With Wardwell threatening his family, Jesse can't tell Liliana all he knows.  Yet he can't resist her compassion. . . or her healing, erotic touch.  As their passion flares, Jesse's body becomes dangerous and volatile.  For evil men are plotting to change the face of humanity -- and will destroy whoever stands in their way.





by Kristina McMorris

Chicago, 1944.  Liz Stephens has little interest in attending a USO club dance with her friends Betty and Julia.  She doesn't need a flirtation with a lonely serviceman when she's set to marry her childhood sweetheart.  Yet something happens the moment Liz glimpses Morgan McClain.  they share only a brief conversation -- during which she mistakenly believes he is interested in Betty -- but Liz can't forget him.  When Betty asks her to ghostwrite a letter to Morgan, stationed overseas, Liz reluctantly agrees.

Thousands of miles away, Morgan struggles to adjust to the brutality of war.  His letters from "Betty" are a comfort, their soul-baring correspondence a revelation to them both.  While Liz is torn by her feelings for a man who doesn't know her true identity, Betty and Julia each become immersed in their own romantic entanglements.  And as the war draws to a close, all three will face heart-wrenching choices, painful losses, and the bittersweet joy of new beginnings.

Beautifully rendered and deeply moving, Letters from Home is a story of hope and connection, of sacrifices made in love and war -- and the chance encounters that change us forever. 


by Marie Force

Being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be. . .
After a heroic blizzard landing makes him famous, First Officer Cole Langston thoroughly enjoys the playboy lifestyle that comes with his fame and good looks.  Until he meets the one woman he wants more than anything and finds it impossible to convince her of his love.

Especially when everything you've ever wanted is at stake. . .
Olivia is a talented artist, working at an airport kiosk to get through school.  When drop-dead gorgeous Cole rescues her from an obnoxious customer, their instant attraction turns into something much deeper. . .

With jealousy and insecurity rearing their ugly heads as Cole and Olivia fall hard for each other, they'll either figure out how to trust, or they'll both miss the connection of a lifetime. . .




by Ashlyn Chase

Petty crime never looked so good. . .
Alpha werewolf Konrad Wolfensen sees it as his duty to protect the citizens of Boston, even if it means breaking into their apartments just to prove their security systems don't work.  But when his unsolicited services land him in trouble with the law, he'll have to turn to his sexy new neighbor for help.

She should know better. . .
Attorney Roz Wells is bored.  She used to have such a knack for attracting the weird and unexpected, but ever since she took a job as a Boston public defender, the quirky quotient in her life has taken a serious hit.  Until her sexy werewolf neighbor starts coming around. . .

Roz knows she should stay away from this sexy bad boy, but she can't help it that she's putty in his hands. . .


by Melody Carlson

Sometimes the best gift is a second chance.

Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless.  She is trying to restart her life, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent.  When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing.  But can she keep her past a secret?

Reading Christmas at Harrington's, a story full of redemption and true holiday spirit, will be your newest Christmas tradition.




by Amy Sedaris

Hello.  Good for you, reading the flap! This suggests you are not an impulsive buyer.  You clearly are the type of person who would like more information about your prospective purchase before you throw down your hard-earned cash.  Okay, but guess what?  Do you have any clue how much time it will take to move this stack of books if every potential buyer is going to insist on being an annoyingly responsible shopper?!

More information, let's see, where to start. . . this is a serious craft book and an important one!  Please don't let the fact that further into this flap you will find instructions on how to turn this book cover into a paper hat suggest otherwise.  The point is, this book confronts the hard-hitting craft questions that other books of this genre have refused to even acknowledge: Why should every room look like an attic?  What is the quickest way to obtain feathers from a bird? What are the best crafting options for the criminally insane?  Why is there a half naked man wearing a short canary yellow robe on page 250.

But Simple Times does more than answer the tough questions, it also transports us back to a golden time when we wore handmade sweaters, carved our cooking utensils out of bark, and the best people would buy books based on a whim.



by Linda Byler

Lizzie's dream of teaching school has finally come true.  She loves the brand-new school building, the sound of the children singing, and the independence she has in the classroom.  Even the occasionally unruly boys can't ruin the excitement she feels each morning when she starts the school day.

But at home things are in turmoil again.  What do Dat's sudden health problems mean for the future of their farm?  And what about Lizzie's future?  Emma and Mandy are so certain that Joshua and John are their perfect matches, but Lizzie doesn't know what to think about Stephen and how he might fit into her life.

What will Lizzie decide?  Will she continue to teach school?  Or will she give up that dream so that her wish for marriage and a family can come true?

Stephen says he loves her, but Lizzie isn't sure he really understands her.  Can she hope to find anyone within her Amish community who loves her bright mind, her ever-active imagination, her competitive spirit and her stormy humor?



by Laura Childs

Getting ready for Halloween, the ladies at the Cackleberry Club cafe are busy carving jack-o'-lanterns, stocking up on candy, and baking pumpkin bread.  But someone's jumped the gun on the tricks.  As mayoral candidate Chuck Peebler leaves the cafe, he gets struck with a crossbow arrow and is killed instantly.  When another murder occurs on the historical society's Quilt Trail, there's no disquising it -- a murderer is running loose in the town of Kindred.  Now Suzanne's on the beat to sniff out one bad egg. . .



by Steff Deschenes

"It appeared that my ice cream experiment, at the time, paralleled my love life: I went through a lot of different flavors/boys, some that didn't get more than a fraction of my attention, some that I thought I liked but made me nauseous in the end, some that I wish I could have had more of, and some that I learned to simply appreciate.  And thus The Ice Cream Theory was born."

When Steff Deschenes was a teenager, dealing with her first heartache, her parents offered a distraction: a challenge of sorts, to try every flavor of ice cream made by a local company, with a reward of visiting the ice-cream factory afterwards.  Thirty-six flavors and ten pounds later, a love-affair with ice cream and the beginnings of a lifelong social experiment began.

Over the years, she's explored countless flavor combinations from the US to the farthest-flung corners of the world, theorizing that people are drawn to or repelled by other people much as they are ice cream flavors, craving certain personalities at different stages in life in the same way they crave different ice cream flavors.  How a person selects his or her ice cream says a lot about how he or she lives life.  Deschenes neatly brings together anecdotes from her own adventures with broader-reaching social commentary, to help others recognize the wisdom and joy inherent in a beloved dessert.  With its cheeky "self-help" slant, The Ice Cream Theory offers a charming read and a pick-me-up for soul-searchers.


SWAPPED:


by Cornelia Funke

The Adderhead--his immortality bound in a book by Meggie's father, Mo--has ordered his henchmen to plunder the villages. The peasants' only defense is a band of outlaws led by the Bluejay--Mo's fictitious double, whose identity he has reluctantly adopted. But the Book of Immortality is unraveling, and the Adderhead again fears the White Women of Death. To bring the renegade Bluejay back to repair the book, the Adderhead kidnaps all the children in the kingdom, dooming them to slavery in his silver mines unless Mo surrends. First Dustfinger, now Mo: Can anyone save this cursed story?



What books found a home with you this week?

Sunday, October 31, 2010

My Give a Damn's Busted by Carolyn Brown - Book Review

Title: My Give a Damn's Busted
Author: Carolyn Brown
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

About the book:  This book takes us once again to the apparently charmed Honky Tonk beer joint.  It is currently being run by Larissa Morley, the third owner in as many years.  The previous two owners, Daisy and Cathy, both met and married a cowboy and passed the Honky Tonk on to it's next owner.  Larissa isn't looking for a cowboy, having just found herself and is finally happy.

Happy, that is,  until she almost crashes her little sportscar into the back of a beat up pickup truck driven by Hank Wells.  Hank had the unfortunate timing as to be driving down the road at the same time that a deer decided to cross it.  This is what caused him to crash - causing Larissa to slide into a ditch.

Even in her anger, she didn't fail to notice that this was one hot cowboy.  Sparks flew from the very beginning, but they are each harboring secrets from the other, secrets about their past and secrets about themselves.  Will the charm of the Honky Tonk be enough to keep those secrets from blowing their romance apart?

My thoughts:  This has been a very cute series to read - three very different ladies - three very different romances - the common thread being the Honky Tonk.  I have enjoyed getting to know each new owner and hope that we might meet up with them sometime again to learn about their lives after the Honky Tonk. 

You can read my reviews of the first two books here: I Love This Bar and Hell, Yeah.

~I received a copy of this book in exchange for my review from Sourcebooks.~

My Give a Damn's Busted
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks, Oct 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3928-1
366 pages

Saturday, October 30, 2010

The Miracle of Mercy Land by River Jordan (Book Review)


Title: The Miracle of Mercy Land
Author: River Jordan
Publisher: Waterbrook Press

My thoughts: Mercy Land is just a girl in the 1930's when she moves from Bittersweet to Bay City.  She has followed her Aunt Ida's advice and gone to the big city - at least big compared to Bittersweet. She moves into a boarding house and eventual lands herself a job at the Banner - the local newspaper.  She becomes known as Doc's girl.

Doc is the owner and editor of the Banner and she goes from being an employee to being a friend.  She is really the assistant editor and does whatever needs to be done to get the paper out with the most current headlines.  When Doc calls her to in as soon as possible one morning, she goes wondering what the big news will be.  It turns out that a book has mysteriously arrived on Doc's desk and he has spent all night wondering what it means.

The book is unlike anything anyone has ever seen.  When you touch it, it pulls you in and takes you through other people's lives from birth on, and the lives overlap and run together.  What feels like minutes with the book turns out to be hours when you can finally pull yourself away.  They don't know what this means, or why they received this book.  They only know that it must be protected and that they have to figure out what it is to be used for.

This book poses the question of whether we would change the past if we had the choice, and in so doing, how would the ripples affect those around us.  For me, the first 100 pages or so seemed to be slow moving, and I was almost ready to put it aside when I was given enough information to start to wonder what was really going to happen to Mercy and how her past was going to affect her present.  It really made me think about some of the choices I had made in my life and how my life might be different now if any of those choices had been different.  At what point does one's life change?

About the author: River Jordan is a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright.  Her previous works include Saints in Limbo and The Messenger of Magnolia Street.  She speaks around the country on the "Power of Story" and produces and hosts the radio series Clearstory from Nashville, Tennessee where she makes her home.

~I received this book from KBK Public Relations in exchange for my review.~

Publisher/Publication Date: Waterbrook Press, Sept 2010
ISBN: 978-0-307-45705-9
341 pages

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Library Loot - Oct 27, 2010


Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they've checked out from the library.  If you'd like to participate, just write up your post - feel free to steal the button - and visit the above 2 blogs to see who has the Mr. Linky this week. Don't forget to check out what others are checking out!

I haven't done a Library Loot post since March!  Doesn't mean I haven't been checking out books though!




The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini (An Elm Creek Quilts Novel - 1)

When Sarah McClure and her husband, Matt, move to Waterford, Pennsylvania, she hopes to make a fresh start in the small college town.  Unable to find a job both practical and fulfilling, she takes a temporary position at Elm Creek Manor helping its reclusive owner, Sylvia Compson, prepare her family estate for sale after the death of her estranged sister.  Sylvia is also a master quilter and, as part of Sarah's compensation, offers to share the secrets of her creative gifts with the younger women.

During their lessons, the intricate, varied threads of Sylvia's life begin to emerge.  It is the story of a young wife living through the hardships and agonies of the World WAar II home front; of a family torn apart by jealousy and betrayal; of misunderstanding, loss, and a tragedy that can never be undone.  As the bond between them deepens, Sarah resolves to help Sylvia free herself from remembered sorrows and restore her life -- and her home -- to its former glory.  In the process, she confronts painful truths about her own family, even as she creates new dreams for her future.

Just as the darker sections of a quilt can enhance the brighter ones, the mistakes of the past can strengthen understanding and lead the way to new beginnings.  The powerful debut novel by a gifted storyteller, The Quilter's Apprentice tells a timeless tale of family, friendship, and forgiveness as two women weave the disparate pieces of their lives into a bountiful and harmonious whole.



The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew and the Heart of the Middle East by Sandy Tolan

In 1967, Bashir Khairi, a twenty-five-year-old Palestinian, journeyed to Israel with the goal of seeing the beloved old stone house with the lemon tree behind it that he and his family had fled nineteen years earlier.  To his surprise, when he found the house he was greeted by Dalia Eshkenazi Landau, a nineteen-year-old Israeli college student, whose family fled Europe for Israel following the Holocaust.  On the stoop of their shared home, Dalia and Bashir began a rare friendship, forged in the aftermath of war and tested over the next thirty-five years in ways that neither could imagine on that summer day in 1967.  Sandy Tolan brings the Israeli Palestinian conflict down to its most human level, suggesting that even amid the bleakest political realities there exist stories of hope and reconciliation.



Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

In a garden surrounded by a tall fence, tucked away behind a small, quiet house in the smallest of towns, is an apple tree that is rumored to bear a very special sort of fruit.  In this luminous debut novel, Sarah Addison Allen tells the story of that enchanted tree, and the extraordinary people who tend it. . .

The Waverleys have always been a curious family, endowed with peculiar gifts that make them outsiders even in their hometown of Bascom, North Carolina.  Even their garden has a reputation, famous for its feisty apple tree that bears prophetic fruit, and its edible flowers, imbued with special powers.  Generations of Waverleys tended this garden.  Their history was in the soil.  But so were their futures.

A successful caterer, Claire Waverley prepares dishes made with her mystical plants -- from the nasturtiums that aid in keeping secrets and the pansies that make children thoughtful, to the snapdragons intended to discourage the attentions of her amorous neighbor.  Meanwhile, her elderly cousin, Evanell is known for distributing unexpected gifts whose uses become uncanilly clear.   They are the last of the Waverleys -- except for Claire's rebellious sister, Sydney, who fled Bascom the moment she could, abandoning Claire, as their own mother had years before.

When Sydney suddenly returns home with a young daughter of her own, Claire's quiet life is turned upside down -- along with the protective boundary she has so carefully constructed around her heart.  Together again in the house they grew up in, Sydney takes stock of all she left behind, as Claire struggles to heal the wounds of the past.  And soon the sisters realize they must deal with their common legacy -- if they are ever to feel at home in Bascom -- or with each other.




Every Move She Makes by Beverly Barton

As the pampered daughter of one of Spring Creek's most  prestigious southern families, Ella Porter has lived her entire life on the straight-and-narrow.  And being "good" has kept Ella safe and sane -- until now.  Suggestive yet ominous letters have been arriving at her office with alarming frequency.  Letters that remind her of the disturbing ones she used to get from Reed Conway -- the hellraiser she kenw from childhood -- after her father prosecuted him for murder.  Now Reed's been released from prison, and though Ella finds herself wanting to believe his claims of innocence, she's getting closer that a "good girl" ever should to a man with such a bad reputation.

Reed Conway is on a mission: to find out who really murdered his stepfather.  But someone wants to interfere -- someone determined to send Reed right back to prison for a brand-new crime.  They've made it look like he's still a threat to Ella Porter and her family, when the truth is, the more he sees Ella, the more he wants her.  But his attempt to prove his innocence have put both their lives in jeopardy. .. .Because whoever is stalking Ella will stop at nothing -- including murder. . .

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Somewhere Along the Way by Jodi Thomas - Book Review and Giveaway


Title: Somewhere Along the Way
Author: Jodi Thomas
Publisher: Berkley

My Thoughts:  Somewhere Along the Way is the second book in the Harmony series, but it does well as a stand alone (but I recommend reading the first book - Welcome to Harmony!)  We join a lot of the same characters two years down the road, but let me try to tell you about them.

Reagan is almost 18 and is living with her Uncle Jeremiah - he isn't really her uncle, but he will never state otherwise.  She has 2 best friends - Noah McAllen and Brandon Briggs.  Noah has been distant lately and though Reagan doesn't want more than friendship, she can't help feeling jealous.  Brandon is about as different from Noah as you can get.  Where Noah comes from a close knit family and has plans for college and the rodeo, Brandon's father died years ago and his mother has basically checked out.  He is on his own, determined to turn out better than his parents but is rough around the edges.

Alex (Noah's sister) is the sheriff and is engaged to Hank Matheson - volunteer fireman.  Hank wants to marry, but Alex keeps putting him off. She seems to have a problem admitting that she needs anyone.   Liz, Hank's sister, has just hung her shingle as a brand new lawyer in Harmony.  Too proud to let her family know she is short on cash, she is actually living out of her office and showering at the gym where she has a free month's membership.  The postman begins leaving her "neighbor's" mail with her when his office is locked.  This neighbor is G.L Smith - but his real name is just Gabriel Leary. G.L. Smith is his pen name under which he writes graphic novels.  He lives on a farm outside of town and has been a loner since he walked away from a military hospital about 4 years before as Gabe Wiseman.  He is paranoid and doesn't seem to do well mixing with people - until he meets Liz.

There are some other characters that round out the story and help to give you a picture of Harmony - where things don't always fall into place as the name implies.  It is a story full of warmth though and the characters are ones that I wouldn't mind having in my own life.  It is a story of how family can be found in the most unlikely places and people aren't always who they appear to be.  Sometimes you have to really look to see the gold under grime.  I loved this book and flew through it in 2 days!



~I received a copy of this book from the author for review.~


TIME FOR THE GIVEAWAY!

Jodi has kindly sent me an extra copy to giveaway to one of my readers.

Eligibility: U.S./Canada only

1. Sign up to be a follower of this blog - just let me know how you follow. (1 entry)

2. Follow me on twitter (@kherbrand) and tweet or use tweet button below. (1 entry)
3. Comment on any non-giveaway post and let me know. (1 entry)


All entries can be left in one comment, but must leave email address also! Giveaway will end on Nov 16. Winners will have 48 hours to respond.
 
 
 
Somewhere Along the Way
Publisher/Publication Date:
ISBN: 978-0-425-23772-4
358 pages
 

Jodi Thomas - Here today!

Please welcome Jodi Thomas, author of Somewhere Along the Way to Books and Needlepoint.


Thanks for asking me to drop by and tell everyone about my thirtieth novel and what I think is the best one I’ve ever written. These characters came alive for me and I hope they will for you. So, lets step into the second book about a small town in Texas, Harmony called SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY.


SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY is a story about a small Texas town where the people know and care about one another. From the mysterious Gabe Leary who tries to remain unnoticed because he fears someone from his past is hunting him, to the wild Liz Matheson who is trying to straighten her life out and matter, you’ll enjoy the journey.


Readers will see the story through the eyes of a teenager named Reagan who settled in as part of this town she loves and Tyler, the funeral director. You’ll fall in love and laugh at Gabe and Liz as they find love. My characters are not super heroes with magic powers, they are ordinary people living their lives, helping others and sometimes finding a love worth keeping.


I hope you enjoy SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY as much as I enjoyed writing it. I’d be happy to hear for you when you’ve finished the story.


Jodi Thomas


Thank you Jodi for visiting Books and Needlepoint again. I must say that I am almost through with Somewhere Along the Way and am loving it! It kept me up way later than I should have been last night! Readers - be sure to check back later today for my review and a giveaway!




About Jodi

Jodi Thomas is the NY Times and USA Today best-selling author of 31 novels and 8 short story collec-tions. As of July 2006, she was the 11th woman to be inducted in to RWA Hall of Fame. She is also cur-rently serving as the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas.







Jodi’s 30th Novel
NY Times and USA Today best-selling author Jodi Thomas is pleased to present her 30th novel, SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY. Thomas proves once again that she is one of mainstream romance genre’s most compelling writers with her highly anticipated sequel to WELCOME TO HARMONY, which captured America’s heart.

“Picking up two years after the conclu-sion to WELCOME TO HARMONY, Thomas once again brings to life this fascinating little Texas town and its numerous characters. The reader is expertly drawn into their lives and left eager to know what happens next with all of them.”
—RT Book Reviews
www.jodithomas.com

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